The Play List
by LadyGrunge
Summary: In the falls of a broken relationship, Hermione turns to the one person who seems to understand, even if it is her former worst enemy. Returning as Heads for their 7th year, can Draco and Hermione hold on to their bizarre and blossoming friendship?
1. Chap 1

**I OWN NOTHING! I am not JK, I am simply playing with her dolls to amuse us all for awhile. XD**

The war had just barely finished settling its debris amongst the wizarding world the first time he saw _her _again there in Hogsmede…

He had just pulled himself away from the growing crowd when the reason for his never ending headache, all too unknown to her, bounced her way out from the back of the Leaky Cauldron and right into his very sight. Draco had found his eyes locked against her, strolling to smooth his body down into no particular bar stool to hover amongst the shadows, watching her like a stalker eying his pray. His long legs stretched out before him, those sharply silver hues rolling in his deep scoff as he watched her flitter around with what appeared to be half the Gryffindor gang close to her side. She moved so carefree, so careless…

_The last time he'd seen Hermione Granger, she was reaching up in the darkness, a painful gurgle spattering blood onto her lips while she cried out, trying to drag her half conscious body out of the flaming woods surrounding her as the war raged on. She looked truly awful but even as painful as it was to watch her fail time and time again trying to find her feet, it wasn't as mind shattering as it had been to hear her screams echoing coldly through the Malfoy manor in the silence that usually answered back. _

Draco bitterly lifted his hand to motion to the bartender for a drink, those aristocratic features contorting into a low scowl to etch deep into the lines of his face at the memories flooding his senses once again.

_He was so tired of hearing her scream...It was the only sound he heard echoing in the darkness no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. Draco's elegant fingers coiled firmly around her wrist, dragging her up from the ground in a clamoring of feet and dirt with little protest from her faltering limbs. Dried leaves and matted blood stuck to her hair as Draco tried his damnedest to tug her arm over his shoulder, pulling her in tight along his waist while he ducked out of the line of fire. That night on the battle field, there outside Hogwarts, there was nothing but screams and shouts deafening around a haze of smoldering curses and withering bodies but the Prince of Slytherin swallowed his pride to dragged a half conscious Hermione Granger from the twisted smoke with the sickening snaps of spells whipping through the air around them. It was all Draco could do to keep Hermione close and maneuver her to ready his wand at counter spell without spilling them both back to the dirt below them but he somehow found the energy despite the struggle. _

_She weighed near nothing but her dead weight was still nearly impossible to haul in all the chaos, leaving them stumbling with the rushing wind slammed into them from either direction even in there in the cover of trees. Hermione crumpled hard to the ground, Draco falling to his knee over top of her, his arm covering her face and his wand drawn as he streamed lines of curses out into the blindness. He had no idea how long he'd spent dragging her unconscious body, toppling over in the line of defense and forcing himself up to repeat the same sad pattern before he'd finally managed a safe path out into the back of the clearing. Too bad the short persona triumph was short lived…_

_Draco wasn't aware of the breath he'd been holding when he'd tried his best to fold her down into the plush of grass from his arms, his face tight, teeth gritted until he could detangle his arms from her. It wasn't until then that he'd realized how bad she truly looked…and what a shame it really was. Don't get him wrong, if she hadn't looked like she was about to die, he might have actually left her there to fight the good fight or whatever but right there and now…he wasn't sure if she was even alive and the thought made him sick. _

_There wasn't much left of her sweater at this point and where her skin wasn't slashed, bruised, or caked with blood, and from what he could see, was raised in a fine sheen of goose bumps and swollen, red lines. He could have left her, he could leave her still…he could have taken her, he could have ran with her, gotten her out of here, really gotten her out of there…but Draco just stood there, staring at her, mindlessly pulling his own black button down off from his own tattered body. _

_She never stirred, even when he bent to kneel over top of her once more, slowly, carefully this time. His thoughts were vacant but his actions were delicate, carefully sliding the fabric up her arms, adjusting her up in the slightest to tug it over her shoulders. The length of his fingers trembled as the moved to close the midnight black fabric over her chest, bending her arm to lay it across to help her hold her own modesty when she was obviously unavailable to do so. _

_He felt like a creep. It was a funny feeling to have in the mist of so much dying and bloodshed but he couldn't leave her there. It hadn't taken long for the heat to catch up with any where either one of them were however, the screaming booming louder around them now, but Draco remained kneeled over her fallen form, one hand thrusting his curses out in a deathly precision, his opposite arm covering her face from the harsh assaults whizzing by. _

_Draco had been so caught up trying to keep her safe that he'd nearly thrown his own body back when her cold fingers jerked up to snatch hold of his forearm covering her face so closely, scrambling back a few paces on his knees as she tried to sit up. Wide chocolate orbs were staring openly at him, her hand clutching the shirt tight over her chest as she stared at him hard and bewildered. She'd made it to her elbow, half propped on the ground, no longer moving as she watched him swallow where she'd backed him up on his knees but she never flinched. _

_She just sat there, rigid as Draco thrust his arm and wand high into the sky, shouting hard as he sent a vibrant, florescent green beam shooting high into the night sky and twisting the smoldering clouds above them. The light screamed straight through the clouds, tearing a line in to night and shining a beacon straight down to the junction that was them in the map of this war. _

_Neither one of them reacted when Potter's unmistakable shout sounded out, calling for Hermione, Draco's arm still up cast, unable to bring himself to look at her again as he stood upright. His arm lowered to his side, his wand still gripping hard in his grasp but Draco smiled, genuinely, for the first time at the sight of scar head making a bleak spot appearance far in the back clearing of trees. Hermione jolted to sit up, her eyes somehow managing to widen then some, that Gryffindor spirit alert as she whipped her head round to see Potter in a full sprint to her aid. Her motions moved quick, turning her head rapidly back to Draco but by the time she'd returned her sight…he was gone._

"Can I buy you a drink for saving my life? Or did I really just hit my head that hard like Harry thinks and imagine the whole you saving my arse thing?" Seemed Draco didn't have the opportunity to remember all the shattered, horrific memories for a few months prior because the woman who had replaced the girl that had been haunting his nightmares was standing behind him where he'd taken refuge, there at the back corner in his memory lane solitude.

Draco's hair had long since been chopped short since the trials, his sideburns left long to leave the lengthier strands on the top to tug up in the front. If he was a muggle born, Hermione would have said it reminded her of a faux hawk but she felt awkward enough as it was standing there staring at Draco Malfoy's back to make a joke about his very unlike him hair style that he was sporting. That casual Malfoy smirk was light against the corners of his lips when his hands settled against the scarred remains of the bar top, slowly lowering them to his lap as he slid round to face her. Hermione's lips parted in a sigh, unaware she had been holding her breath when she tilted her chin up to greet him with a soft, nervous smile light on the side of her own mouth. At least he turned around…as long as he didn't curse her, throw something at her, on her, or yell at her, this might not turn out so bad.

Draco dressed suavely in a dark grey suit, perfectly tailored against his body from the cuffs against his black polished boots to the collar leading to the midnight black button down and adjourning tie loose around his neck in the late hour. He had yet to actually look at her, his eyes down on the ground between them as he ran his thumb and forefinger a crossed the dangerous curve in his jaw bone, lightly scratching the dark scruff that Hermione was sure he hadn't shaved properly in a week. She was just opening her mouth once again to disclaim what a poor idea this had obviously been before he had a chance to make a fool of her when he lifted those sharp gray eyes against her, his pale brows lifted with that easy drawl straightening the length of her spine.

"You must have hit your head pretty hard if you think I'd allow you to buy me a drink under any pretense, Granger." Draco lifted a single digit between them, straightening his own back and posture as he added, "But, if you'd like to sit down, I'd be happy to offer you a drink under the gratitude that you're the first person to say anything but 'I hope you and your family die, Malfoy' from our dear old Hogwarts." He was motioning to the stool beside him with that casual Malfoy charm, his head cocked and hand open down to it like he hadn't just said something that made her heart cringe in a way that also made her want to hurl…but that was Malfoy for you.

"I knew it was you…" Hermione gracefully moved to sit herself down on the stool, sliding back to cross her long legs between them as he angled to face her there in the dim light. Her lips were crimson in the candle glow from the bar, her features shimmering a low bronze from the curve of her cheek bone to the long dip of muscles in her calves peeking out from the knee length chiffon dress she was wearing, barely holding on to the curves of her frame. This wasn't the fragile being he was protecting through the woods…

Hermione was leaning forward over the bar ordering a drink from the barmaid, her elbows on the countertop, hands clasped in front of her, leaning up off her stool the first time Draco noticed the long, black lace arm bands, for lack of Draco's better description, that covered her from elbow to knuckles. Her hands moved to slide the fabric of her dress better beneath her, seating herself more comfortably once she'd finished her task, turning back to him rather abruptly to interrupt the furrowing question on his brow with one quick statement.

"I still have your shirt."

The ever growing thoughts Draco formerly had wrapping his face eased off with a small scoff lightly to himself, the corner of his mouth tugging up in a smirk when he fixed those storming hues against her once again, "I thought you might have burnt it if you realized it was mine, truthfully." He took a small drink from the clean liquid swimming over the ice cubes in his glass, watching the light tint of rose creeping on to her cheeks from over the rim of his glass, her smile awkward and soft in her down cast glance as she admitted, "I thought about it, truthfully."

Draco chuckled, lifting his hand to motion to the bar keep as she set the drink down in front of Hermione to place it on his tab before she could offer any protest. Her thinly arched brows were inching in against themselves, fixing him with a low stare but Draco only rolled his wrist, waving off her irritation and prompting her to continue.

"I know it's silly but I haven't even washed it." She drew a sharp breath, hazelnut hues lifting wide as she too lifted her glass before her lips, stirring its contents with the small black straw lingering inside.

She looked so cold that night…he wasn't sure what to say to her now and just as the last time he'd seen her, she'd left him sitting there, staring at her without motion like a moth caught in her flame. "Why didn't you assume I was about to kill you?"

Hermione shook her head and laughed outright, "Harry and Ron both said that you probably were about to!" She was still laughing at the remembrance, so astounded that she completely missed Draco's annoyed glare loaming on her at her humor in the situation.

"And you didn't believe that?"

"No…" she stifled her laughter with her long fingers laying lightly over her lips before brushing her long chestnut strands off from her bare shoulder, "Your shirt was covered in your own blood, sweat, and dirt…and you gave it to me. Off your back." Again, Draco said nothing, taking a long drink from his glass to finish its contents, setting it on the bar mat in front of them. "You didn't have to help me and you didn't have to do that…it meant a lot. It still means a lot when I have a hard time forgetting. Ron hates it…thinks I'm holding on to some delusion that there was any good deeds done in that war. Especially by you."

Her hands were folded in her lap now, cradling her drink, her head tilted up to focus on him better. Draco set his elbow to the scarred surface of the bar top, sighing as he offered her as much truth as she'd offered him, "I tried to keep tabs of you for awhile after that night but it became hard without endangering you further. I wish I could explain that like I know you're going to want but I cannot so please, skip the encyclopedia of questions that I don't have in the remotest, Granger…" That easy Malfoy drawl was awfully rushed off his lips, dying off the end of his sentence like he was unsure he was ready to stop talking but Hermione was all too quick to pick up where he'd left off.

"I tried to testify on your behalf as a character witness but they threw it out. Said my opinions were prejudice." Draco's mouth was a bit agape in the very un-Malfoy like stunned expression befalling him, shaking his head slightly as it sunk in, clearing his throat a bit awkwardly and patting his chest to force it down. He looked over to his drink a bit irritably that it was still not refilled yet where it rested, still on the mat, before he turned his attention back onto her trying to casually ignore his frantic thoughts crashing waves behind the storms of his eyes. This wasn't right. He had to gain control of the situation or he'd never be rid of this.

Hermione was sipping her drink from her straw now, tapping her ankle lightly where it hung when Draco reached up to take her left hand down and away from her glass, folding it in between his own hands, "are you still with him?"

Chestnut hues eyed both Draco and his question wearily, her glass still in her opposite hand with her elbow resting on the counter top now when his fingers slid up her forearm towards the top of her individual arm band as Hermione managed to stutter out, "Wwho…Ronald?" Hermione frowned to herself at her own stagger from the mere touch of his fingertips tingling around her elbow, "We're dating…I mean, yes. Yes, Ronald is my boyfriend." She was so distracted at her own explanation of her relationship to the last person on earth she thought she'd need to explain it to that she hadn't even noticed him start tugging her sleeve down until she felt his knuckles brush her wrist. Hermione had tossed her glass onto the bar top as quick as she could, moving to recoil her arm, her fingers snatching to tug the lace back up but Draco's hand shot to clasp over it before she could make a move.

"Granger…" It was still there. _Mudblood_. Viciously carved into her skin, dark and brutal, rough and scarred beneath his touch. He could feel the scarring of her soft skin scraping beneath the pads of his fingers, daring him to deny it. It was still her…This light creature that smiled like she'd never met him, glowing in the amber tints of the room was still that girl that spattered blood against his walls as she cried in agony.

"Let go, Malfoy." Her legs were untangling, her heels making a small click to the ground as she began to stand up, her expressions dark and narrowed against him but he was already standing tall in his counter. "Hold on, freckles…" Draco was trying to swallow the distaste down his throat and off of his tongue when he moved her, tugging hard to pull the fabric back up securely to her taste, rounding it over her elbow before he lifted his gaze against her once again, "I'm sorry, alright? The normal Hermione Granger that I am used to is not…this. I had to be sure."

"So should I pull up your sleeve and flash your dark mark so I can be sure it's really you, Malfoy? Because the Malfoy I am familiar with wouldn't offer me a seat next to him if it was on the last bus out of hell. The Malfoy I know wouldn't be seen in public with me let alone buy me a drink. Let's not forget save my miserable life…"

Draco held his own left arm out in front of her as he released her, "If it'll suit you." Hermione scoffed and shoved his arm back at him, folding hers both over her chest as he continued, "Listen to me, Granger…I'm saying that I am sorry." It was the second time he'd said it in the last five minutes and it deserved her attention if nothing else considering it was only the second time she'd heard it out of his mouth in the entire near seven years she'd known him. After all, she'd just lashed out and called him a Death Eater and he hadn't so much as flinched to retaliate.

"I'm sorry that I've hurt you because I know you've hurt enough and truthfully, whether you choose to believe this or not, I have no intention of causing you anymore." Draco paused before her, pursing his lips momentarily before he continued, "So before I go proving otherwise let me say that it was nice to see you tonight, Granger, but I should be going now." He was reaching inside of his suit jacket, pulling out a beautifully designed business card with calligraphy writing etched on the front, moving to fold it into her hand with his feather light touch. "It's a much fonder way to think of you but perhaps you have a hard time forgetting some night…and the shirt isn't enough…it could be nice to see you again."

"I have Ronald you know."

Hermione wasn't sure why she'd said it. Maybe it was the way his words were smoothing off his lips in such a low velvety way but the phrase didn't seem to bother Malfoy even as he adjusted his jacket with a mild shrug after settling a few bills face down on the counter before them, "he wasn't there for you that night, I was, and he isn't here tonight from what I can see…so perhaps the situation will arise that he won't be there for you again. Perhaps not. It's only an offer, Granger." Draco had not only adjusted his clothing but he'd suited himself up in his Malfoy swagger as well, bowing lowly to her like it was some diplomatic gesture before taking a few steps back, motioning to her with a wave of his hand, "a secret amongst former enemies."

Hermione had turned to face his retreating form and she couldn't help but laugh softly at his statement, refolding her arms, card and all over her chest as she shook her head at him while he turned and made his way off into the crowd. For anyone else it would have been a dramatic display but for Draco Malfoy to bow down to her in any way shape or form, let alone in a public environment left Hermione with a rather girlish grin.

She hadn't been entirely sure what she'd expected when she'd mustered the courage to approach Malfoy after months of personal wonderings but this certainly wasn't how she had expected it to play out. For months she'd wondered about him, why he'd chosen the actions he had and she'd plotted numerous ways to confront him on the matter once they'd all settled back at Hogwarts for the year but she couldn't stop herself when she saw him here at The Leaky Cauldron tonight. It seemed her overzealousness only left her more confused than where she started from as she stood there on her feet with a rather unnaturally graced smile light on her lips as she watched him disappear for the second time in her life with just as many questions as every time he'd appeared.


	2. Chap 2

Weeks had passed since he'd had his unusual encounter with Gryffindor's very own princess but the nightmares had ceased to stop. His only consolation prize was that now she was dressed in that flowing black dress she'd worn the very night he saw her in the inn but instead of the soft material waving back and forth it was torn and ripped on her body where she lied covered in blood and mud.

Draco was sure that when he saw her again, once classes resumed for their final year, that he could rid his mind of the plague that she'd infected and ignited there. Once he saw her safe and conscious, alive and back to her annoying little ways he could forget about her existence again but his mild little conversation with a very much alive and alert Hermione Granger only left his thoughts worse off as it stood. Now he sat tense, dreading the passing hours in his sickness, counting the days till classes began finally to ease his mind to forget.

It was however, even as obnoxious as it was, a nice distraction from the tabloids still surrounding his name. Draco currently had a stack of them lined upright inside a large basket lying next to the roaring fire beneath a beautifully carved marble mantel piece. Cerulean depths gazed over no particular words on the back of one of the many, giving it a small sigh before tossing it too into the flames, numbly feeding them with the printed lies. Just as Draco was getting ready to toss another batch into the flames before him, he heard a weak knock at his door.

Draco tore his eyes away from the pages melting in a charred remain of ashes to the large wooden stretch of his door way that stood at the head of his flat. Slowly, he drug his steps through the large room, wiping the soot and dirt from his hands off on the pair of muggle jeans that were resting against the low curve of his waistline before snatching his wand from the end table closest to the door, tucking it into his back pocket as he moved to clasp the door handle. Draco twisted his wrist, pulling it wide and abruptly open with his brows raised in irritation but the only thing his attitude was greeted with for such a late night, uninvited knocking was the petite brunette's back walking away briskly down the hallway towards the lift at the end of the walls meet. She flinched at the sound of his door snapping open, her steps halting like she'd run face first into an invisible barrier before she whirled around awkwardly, a deep blush creeping up her cheeks as she raised a single leather gloved hand up into the air.

"Hi. I mean, hey, Malfoy."

Draco's hands were resting on either side of the door frame, eyeing her in her short black button down coat tied tightly to her waist, flaring out over the long black boots lined with fur. Every time previously he remembered seeing her she was in robes, her uniform, or some doughty sweater…again, she had him standing, swallowing before he could find his words to respond to her.

"Would you like to come in, Granger?" His steps slid back, opening his hand to the insides of his personal loft with his brow raised lightly at her like he wasn't the least bit distressed but he was a ball of churning confusion where he stood, watching her watch him with just as much anxiety, holding her hands in front of her waist and her breath all at the same time.

It was Hermione's turn to stand there debating her own actions before she nodded, dropping her head and muttering a 'yeah, ok' before she began walking the short retreated distance back towards his open door, stepping inside once he'd stepped apart to hold the door open for her. She stood calmly on the marble tile, softly plucking the buttons from her jacket while he closed the door, "I half expected you'd still be at the manor." She laid her coat down over the back of his plush, black leather sofa, pulling her gloves off to lay them over top along with her scarf.

"And I half expected you not to come." Hermione scoffed when she turned around, tossing her pale yellow woven hat at him with a bit of a laugh emitting from her tone, "and to think I was just about to comment on how nice your taste is compared to your fathers influence!"

Draco easily snatched the offending garment mid air, his fingers clutching hold of it as Hermione ducked behind the arm of the couch when he made a motion to throw it back at her. He had to laugh lowly to himself, sighing as he lowered his hand to toss her hat on top of the pile of her things instead before he offered a hand down to her, a shake in his head at her crouched form, "dressed a bit nicely to be on my floor, Granger, don't you think? Come on…let me make you a drink." Hermione eyed him a moment longer to make sure he was void of any throw able objects before she took his hand and stood, brushing off her long button down dress and adjusting the thick black belt wrapping around the small of her waist.

Slowly, Hermione ran her hands down to smooth the lengthy strands of chocolate over a single shoulder as she turned to face him while he disappeared back into the large surroundings of his apartment. "Vodka, tonic, with ch…"

"Cherries, I got it, Granger. Sit down, relax." Hermione's face scrunched when he waved his hand dismissively at her order, like he'd been taking it for years as she stood defiantly with her arms folding over her chest until Draco moved to walk back to her, moving still to the front of the couch to hand her a short thick glass, holding one for himself in his opposite without a word.

"You stalking me now, Malfoy?"

"No…" Draco chuckled as she took her drink, seating himself down on his couch comfortably, folding one knee to set his ankle across his opposite, resting his arm up on the back of the couch as he cradled the drink in his hand against his thigh, "you ordered it last night, freckles. Just never seen anyone drink it…I found it unusual, I should say but I don't think you came all this way in the middle of the night to talk about drink recipes and my memory for them so why don't you tell me why you did come?"

Draco was still wearing his shoes, a pair of dark down leather that matched the twisting bands of his belt. A dark gray t-shirt held slack on the lithe muscles of his torso, even in the refuge of his own loft, a clasped leather band wrapped around the center of his left arm, buttoned securely. He'd still yet to shave, his hair far more disheveled and soft then when she had seen him last. Hermione wasn't accustomed to seeing him like this. He was so polished and pristine usually but now he was relaxed, easy, calm and comfortable in his attire and appearance, sipping casually on his drink watching her try to create the words to answer him.

"I got our room assignments today…" So had Draco but he said nothing, he simply let her continue. "I mean, I'm honored to be Head Girl and it's not that I don't think you deserve it or anything but…well come on, Malfoy. I really don't know what McGonagall was thinking. I mean…you're the last boy in that school, let alone the wizarding world, that should be representing Hogwarts." She was mildly on the verge of ranting now, her mouth resting open still in a bit of shock once she'd run out of words, hand and drink held in the air idly from her gesturing.

Draco sat upright a bit, resting his hand on her own mid air to direct it to rest back to her own knee, "take a breath or two, Granger. You're making me dizzy over here."

Hermione's wild eyes settled on him briefly before she lifted her glass to her lips, taking a strong swallow of the drink, emitting a small sigh to herself as it smoothly ran down her throat almost undetectable. She should have known that Draco would have only the best vodka but even she choked as she managed to get out the truth, "I got in a huge fight with Ronald about it."

And there it was. Seemed Weasley couldn't handle the thought of his precious little girlfriend being anywhere near the likes of him. As annoyed as he was by the thought, Draco truly couldn't blame him after everything they'd all been through and quite frankly the thought of sharing a Heads title with Granger still made his nerves dance on end but he had no choice in the matter and arguing would only damn his name further as far as he was concerned.

Draco's hand was still against her wrist, settling his drink against the coffee table between them and the fireplace before he questioned her lightly, "where does he think you are right now, pray tell?"

"At my mum and dad's…I'm not trying to sleep over, Malfoy!" Hermione snapped her eyes up against him to fix him with a stern glare, "That is definitely not what I meant by coming here…"

Draco laughed outright, his grin wide on his face while he moved to shush her with a soft patting motion in the air between them, "Shh, I know, freckles, would you relax?" Pale tiers pursed in against themselves when his fingers moved to press the fall of her chin up in the slightest, his brow furrowed at the bloodshot white hues gazing back at him, "You just needed someone to hear you for a moment, I get it."

Hermione instinctively wiped the blotchy skin beneath her eyes to make sure they were dry at his motions before sighing her hands down into her lap once again, "he'd kill me if he knew that I was here…with you."

"No, he wouldn't," he said it almost like he was disgusted that she'd ever think otherwise and she wished he wasn't so close to her all of the sudden, "but I suppose it's a good thing he doesn't have to find out. I mean, you can pretend you're at your mum's all you want. You want to bake some cookies? No problem…this guy?" Draco motioned to himself with his thumb, a small wink of his eye to follow, "not going to get in your way, Susie Q."

There he went again! The man whom she loved and was used to caring for her was breaking her heart and the boy who had trampled on her every nerve and emotion was now the man scooping up her pieces and attempting to make her laugh for reasons unexplained to her. She gave him a scrunching face, plucking one of her cherries and tossing it in her mouth before she spoke mid chomping of the juicy little red fruit, "you look nice like this…not so stuffy."

Draco looked down to admire his own attire, glancing back up to her as she swallowed the cherry down with the remainder of her drink. "Thank you, Granger. I find it easier to go unnoticed."

"Funny," She smiled at him as he bent to take his glass, moving to take a small sip, following suit to finish his own, "I find it easier to notice." Draco nearly choked on the liquid running down his throat, threatening to reverse the momentum as he coughed hard in the air. With a hard furrow of his brown, Draco brushed his hands down against the droplets of liquor spilling down the front of his shirt, wiping his lip with his finger and he glared at her, "don't…do that, Granger! Merlin."

"Aw come on, you can comment that I look nice but I can't repay the favor?" Leave it to Granger to catch him in his own words. Draco leaned forward and took her empty glass into his hand, standing up as he lowered her glass back down in front of her, offering it out. Hermione smiled brightly, pulling her other cherry from the glass and popping it in her mouth before he stepped away to refill to round two with a small smirk turning the corner of those pale lips upwards. Hermione watched him move in such carefree motions from where she'd rested and settled back down against the couch, leaning over the back to watch him make their drinks effortlessly.

"Would you like to talk about what happened with your boyfriend now that you can speak straight or shall we talk about something else?" Hermione tilted her chin against the back of her hands where they were perched, sighing softly as she answered back dryly, "He has a name you know, Malfoy."

"Yes I know but if I call him by his name then I'm forced to remind myself that I'm supposed to hate you and I start to get this horrible headache behind my eyes."

Hermione laughed fully at that and even Draco had to lower his head to laugh, dropping a few ice cubes inside their glasses as she offered, "He was worried about his girlfriend being forced to share company with the man that makes mothers cover their children's eyes and shrink to the other side of the street."

With a few cherries settling to the bottom of Hermione's drink, Draco moved to set a fresh straw in either of their glasses before picking them both up with a shrug, "Good point, but may I offer a rebuttal?" Hermione gladly accepted her glass before he rounded to seat himself beside her once again, telling her regardless of her nodding answer, "Perhaps your boyfriend is just a jealous git who needs to understand that if you're big enough to fight a war then you're strong enough to take care of yourself if need be. Truly, I cannot blame him. I would not want my girlfriend around…well, me, if it were…me." Draco looked completely confused by his own sentence, rolling his eyes at the statement before washing it down with a firm drink of gin.

After a small sip, Hermione slid her body and arm out to press her glass back onto the table, settling her feet to the floor in her sideways seated position as she slapped her hands to her knees, "I think you make an excellent point, Malfoy. I should take that as my cue! I do have a lot of shopping to do." Hermione moved to stand but Draco shot his hand out and tugged her back to the cushions as she laughed at his expense far quicker than she could joke about actually leaving.

"Nonsense, Granger. You're going nowhere by yourself this late in the night and you clearly haven't had enough to drink." He spoke with that easy, low drawl but that oh so un Malfoy like smile was pulling at the corners of his lips, flashing the perfectly laid rows or pearled teeth before her far more charming than she would have liked to admit. Hermione countered his statement as she leaned forward in her seat to snatch her glass from its resting position, flinching when Draco moved to stop her from leaving again with a small shriek. "You sound like a door mouse, Granger!" Draco choked out between a sip of his own drink, laughing so hard his face began to deepen a shade of red as he coughed.

The ever lady lake Granger lifted a single middle finger to rightfully tell Malfoy what she thought of his statement as she added, "As you said, Malfoy, I think I can manage." Hermione gave his chest a firm poke with her index finger before she continued, "and for your information I do not drink often so this has been plenty and I truly must do some shopping or I will be forced to duck my head and go back to the Weasley's which I am not quite capable of doing at the moment." Hermione looked quite perplexed at herself more than to the man seated next to her as she finished her long confession, huffing softly when she shook her head, dropping her hands, glass and all, to her lap.

"You want to go shopping? At 11:30 at night? Don't you have clothing at your mum and dads?"

"From when I was twelve!" For whatever reason that was unknown to Draco, she actually looked a bit embarrassed as she continued, "Everything aside from my school clothes are with Ron."

"I thought you were supposed to be well known for your studious by the book procedures in life and good common sense, freckles."

"I am, usually." Hermione had long since gotten over the denial of her complete OCD behavior with education, cleaning, and well...everyone and everything in her life. "With everything except for romance, I suppose."

"Obviously." Hermione set him with a firm glare, Draco lifting his hand up in a defensive state while he held his cup lightly in his finger tips, "It got you here, with me, didn't it?"

"Touché." Draco smiled softly, lowering his face away from her momentarily and for the first time in her life; Hermione would have given anything to know what Draco Malfoy was thinking. It was also the first time she'd had to think about the matter when it wasn't for the fear of her own or one of her loved ones lives.

He lowered his leg down to rest his foot next to his other on the floor, leaning across her legs so slowly that Hermione had to lean back on her palm to avoid them brushing together. With a pale blonde brow lifting, Draco eyed her strangely at her tense discomfort when he plucked her glass from her, shaking his head softly when he rose to that towering height of his, "Relax, Granger. I'm just getting you another drink."

He was still shaking his head, walking around the side of the couch and back towards the bar when Hermione whipped around on the couch to face him, or his retreating back rather, "No, Draco, I already told you I'm a lightweight. I really don't need another drink."

"And I told you that you are not nearly drunk enough, especially if I am going to be escorting you shopping at 11:30 at night."

Hermione gasped so loudly Draco nearly dropped the glasses entirely, shoving his hips forward in quick reaction to barely land them onto the bar countertop, "You'll go with me?" She was kneeling on the couch now, her hands gripping the back cushion as she lifted herself to peer out at him with all her excitement. A small grin was just beginning to find its way back to Draco's pale tiers when Hermione slunk slightly against the couch, cocking her head lightly to the side, "Why are you doing this, Draco? I mean, I was shocked enough you accepted my drink…"

"You accepted my drink, Granger," Draco corrected dryly.

Despite her ever growing frown that she seemed to reserve normally for interrupting lower years, she continued on none the less, "I truly wasn't sure why I came here tonight but you're just…"

"I'm just trying to prove to someone, who will let me, that I am not my father."The words pained him to say and Hermione couldn't help but feel her own heart twinge a bit for the man before her. "I've had a lot of confusion. I've had a lot of time to sort some things out…others I'm still working on." His hands were flat on the bar, his head down as he talked into the empty glasses before him, "I've never really _met_ you, Granger."

Hermione knew exactly what he meant. She'd known Draco for seven years now and she'd never truly had a real conversation with him but in her defense, he would have never allowed it. Perhaps in his head Lucius would have just never allowed it…what the hell was Malfoy doing? Hermione scowled at her aptness to believe that, a small frown evident on her features as she lifted her chin up, "better get learning, Malfoy because in two weeks you're not going to be able to get away from me."

_Anything, as long as it stops the screams. _

Hermione had a cocky little smirk twitching on her mouth as Draco did his best to go about making her and her alone another drink. He'd told her the truth, Draco wasn't the boy his father had trained him to be. He'd been forced to make life altering decisions in split second situations, forced to choose sides and alliances, and forced to live with the wrong ones that he'd made thus far. He'd hated Hermione Granger for many reasons but somewhere around the beginning of sixth year he started to find his reasons behind hating her strained, the teasing forced and coerced. It was meaningless to simply not think of Granger to him then but now, after everything, Draco realized it was the start in his brain turning against all that he knew to be right and virtuous.

Draco's attention was pulled sharply when Hermione waved her hand in front of his face, his eyes springing to life when they lifted quickly to her. He wasn't sure when she'd left the couch but she was standing in front of him on the other side of the bar wobbling her freshly poured drink that she'd snatched away in front of his face before she took a sip, "everything in Hogsmede is closed…and I don't need to run into Ronald."

Draco shrugged as he dumped out his glass in the small sink at the bar, placing it face down beside it before settling his hands low into the pockets of his jeans. "I was thinking more muggle London…" Hermione was sure Draco kept talking by the way his lips were opening and closing but she too was busy nearly passing out where she stood. Did Draco Malfoy just say muggle London to her? With that thought bouncing in her brain, Hermione raised her hand as she shook her head rapidly, "Hold on, hold on, hold on…what in the world did you just say to me, Malfoy?"

"I said," Draco started again rather annoyed at the interruption, "we wouldn't have to worry about being spotted and at least you'd be close to home so you wouldn't be aparating all over Merlin knows where with thirty bags of who only knows what, half drunk, splicing yourself."

"Oh so you've seen me shop before, Malfoy?" Draco's eyes widened slowly, cocking his head in quite a comical expression that Hermione had to laugh at, her fingertips touching the burn in her cheek.

"You're going to have to change, freckles."

"What is wrong with what I'm wearing, Malfoy? And why do you insist on calling me that?" Hermione had backed up a step, holding her arms out in defense of her attire before she stomped her foot and slammed her fists firmly to connect with her hips.

"I don't want to tell you…_freckles_. And because it's much too cold."

"I already told you that I do not have anything else, Malfoy, hence the need for the shopping trip in case you've forgotten already…and why not?" He didn't even give her a lie, just a 'I don't want to tell you.' Hermione found herself beyond annoyed, and as much as she'd deny it, intrigued as she followed Draco through the expanse of his loft, arguing the entire way.

"Yes, dear, I remember the sad story all too well…and if you'll calm down than I could explain that we can just alter my own." Hermione was tapping her foot, arms crossed her chest when he turned around, standing in front of a large closet in his hall, handing her a folded pile of clothing before he added, "we are the two highest marks in our grade…I think we can manage."

Damn him for challenging her intellect. Hermione scowled at him deeply when she stomped into the nearest open doorway, slamming the door behind her. She blinked momentarily in the darkness, her hand searching idly for the light switch before…thank god, his bathroom. Hermione smiled at her successful storming out procedure, turning her sight down to the pile in front of her as she grasped the fabric loose in her hands.

* * *

><p>Draco was sitting slack in a chair he'd pulled into the hall way when she'd emerged into the doorway, arms down at her side, head drooped over, frowning truly in the baggy, oversized clothing nearly falling off from her tiny curves. Draco smirked at her pout, drawing his wand as he sharply pointed it in her direction. Slowly and accurately, Draco's clothes began shrinking down, the threads lifting and relooping together to sew correctly in a tailored hold against her. Hermione, still in her heels, was looking like a child in a candy store, giddily watching the magic transform before her, eager for the knowledge behind it he was sure, up until the point that he added, "think of it like the shirt…but Hermione sized." She didn't even justify him with an answer; she only rolled those dark eyes at him dramatically from over her shoulder as she strutted inside the bathroom, moving to stand in front of the mirror with her mouth already open and ready for debate.<p>

The once draping white long sleeved shirt was now hugging her quite close with well placed seams running down the front of the shirt and the tops of the sleeves beneath a dark brown leather jacket that appeared almost black to her inspection. There had to be a hundred hidden zippers and pouches in the thing but Hermione was too quick to investigate the rest of her newly fitted attire to bother counting. Dark denim, skinny all the way down to her ankles, clung to her legs from the low of her hips to the tips of her black pumps, distressed and mildly torn with dark zippers holding the back and front pockets closed. Hermione's head was bent down, zipping up the jacket and shimmying inside its warm contents when she turned around, jumping at Malfoy's sudden closeness as he stepped up behind her.

"Now _that _is much better, freckles."

"I want to know why you own a pair of skinny jeans…but I'm afraid the answer will force me to cut this adventure short so I will instead ask why I'm dressed like we're about to take some names and kick some arse, Big Dog?" Hermione mockingly tossed her arms around thuggishly before toughly folding them over her chest, laughing all the while through her words when Draco gave her arm a tug, pulling her from inside the bathroom, leading her down the hall and back into the large foyer, "because we're taking the bike, darling."

"As in…what does that mean exactly?" Draco was pulling his own dark leather jacket over his body, zipping it up tightly before he answered her, "As in we are taking my bike. What are you not understanding here, Granger?" He tossed her a pair of black leather gloves, busying his own hands once again pulling on his own. Hermione had to admit this was a look she'd never picture Malfoy in but it definitely suited him.

She caught the pair of gloves easily, eyeing them carefully as she turned them over time and time against in her hands, adding beneath the bent motion of her head, casting her eyes up to him. "You know how to drive a motorcycle?"

"Yes."

"You're lying." Draco stopped fidgeting waiting for her to finish gathering herself and huffed out a long strenuous sigh, "I am not lying to you, Granger."

"You do not know how to drive a motorcycle. You can't. You just can't, Malfoy."

"Why can't I, Granger? And why would I lie for fucks sake?"

"Because it's too…muggle. And you're too…Malfoy, Malfoy!"

Those blonde brows were inched in tightly together when Draco advanced on her, his hand shooting out and clutching hold of her bicep, hauling her in tightly against him with one fluid movement. She left out a gasp, her eyes clenching closed tightly at his rapid movements but before she could react to his advancement, Hermione's head went dizzy, compacting and flattening in quite a sickening whirling motion as her body was stretched and shot through a small tube of air. Draco's frame was smashed firmly against her before she felt her bones give way and start to straighten when they popped out of the apparation pull, snapping into the air with a loud, deafening crack.

Hermione's feet smacked solidly onto the hard ground without warning, her legs wobbling in response. "Oh mother fuc…" Hermione teetered forward on her heels, her hand covering her mouth just trying not to throw up on herself when she heard Draco add, "Lady like, Granger. Now come on so I can show you just what it is _that I can't do_."


	3. Chap 3

"I hate aparating…" As much as Hermione would have enjoyed watching him attempt to prove his skills, she was too busy wobbling on her feet to follow. Hermione left her hand a top her mouth when she felt his hands move against her arms, steadying her with a small brush of thumb over the smooth leather covering around her biceps. Draco tilted his head down to watch her rapid changing expressions, blinking her eyesight back with force before she set him with a firm glare but he seemed to miss it entirely. He just stood there, holding her a few inches before him, ignoring her off expression until she cleared her throat, quirking a single brow in her statement, "I think I got it, Malfoy."

"What? Oh. Right." _Fuck_. He hadn't even been aware he was still holding on to her like that. And he was still holding her! Draco released his hands much too quickly to cover his awkwardness, his fingers widening off of her like her skin was suddenly ablaze beneath his touch. Hermione looked a bit startled at his reaction and Draco couldn't help but do what he does best, turn his back on a situation completely and run…He motioned with his head and turned on his heel, dropping his hands awkwardly to his sides as he moved down the few spaces to the Silver, _go figure_, and chrome motorcycle that Draco had tucked into the corner glistening in the florescent glow of the parking garage that it had just dawned on Hermione that she was in. Merlin…she really hated aparating.

Chrome laced rims, brilliant silver pearl paint twisting around metal and steal…it really was a beautiful bike if she knew anything about them. Draco was quick to stalk the machine down; leaving her to her own astonishment as he moved a single glove bound hand to grip the handlebar as he swung his leg over where it was perched on a tilt.

"This is yours?" Hermione was finally tugging her gloves on, nearly forgetting they were still being rung around in her hands from earlier as she watched Draco lean down to slip what looked like a key into the side, giving it a twist before he started to sit upright again.

"Every bolt."

Hermione stood silently next to him, studying his movements, watching as he took two small round objects into his hand before he muttered something over them. She'd also nearly forgotten his skills at wandless magic but his juggling needed some practice. The two helmets bounced to their original size in his singular hand, almost causing him to topple off the bike as his other hand jutted out to catch the second. With a deep scowl, and Hermione's echoing laughter in the cement surround, Draco tucked his own helmet loose over his head, the straps hanging low when he motioned for Hermione to come closer. Now it was Hermione's turn to frown but she bent her waist and her head to follow, allowing Draco to place it over her skull before he moved to press the strands of loose hair away from her eyes. Hermione eyed him with a comical glare when he shut the partial shield closed against her eyes, his smirk never failing while he clasped the straps beneath her neck.

"I don't know about this…I hate flying…and aparating..and anything fast or dangerous really…"

There was the Granger he'd grown to know over the last six years. Draco smiled beneath the shade of his own visor while he adjusted his helmet, "almost thought I'd lost you there, freckles."

"What?"

Draco said nothing, he simply turned and twisted his hand tightly along the handlebar, slamming his foot down on the foot peddle with a loud roar booming around them in response. The engine sprung to life, the whole bike vibrating beneath Malfoy when he straightened it upright, kicking its stand back with an echoing clank as Hermione jumped upright from her leaning position. He offered his hand delicately to her, the smooth leather stretching out but Hermione folded her arms tightly as she commanded out to him, "I will not get on that contraption until you tell me why you call me that, Malfoy."

Hermione demanded quite strongly her request, ignoring the fact that they were nearly shouting over each other to hear one another now. "If you just get on I will tell you, deal?" She still didn't look convinced even as she placed her hand in his when he remotioned it out at his words, standing idle on her feet as he added, "Would you rather trust me and my bike, freckles…or your boyfriend and his temper, Granger."

His tone was harboring just beneath seriousness but it washed against her with much more gravity. He already knew her answer or he wouldn't have asked the question but his use of names for her in description of spending time with Ronald or himself left her with a bit more apprehension then she would have liked to admit.

With all of her Gryffindor courage, Hermione lifted her foot to place the center of her arch against the back stand, her hand still clutched in his while she stood her weight up against the peg. Hermione rested her free hand against his shoulder while she swung her leg over to settle in against her seat quite close behind him, her thighs parting to close around his own. Hermione shifted her weight against the firm leather beneath her, her legs brushing tight up against Draco and she suddenly found herself blushing at the intimacy the close proximity was offering. Her other foot lifted up to join suit of her other, feeling her weight centered as she leaned in against Malfoy, her arms naturally folding around his waist for protection but from what on this thing she wasn't sure. Draco lowered his feet to the pavement, pressing and walking the bike back from its parked position, that cocky Malfoy smirk plastered on his lips as Hermione found herself clutching hold of him tighter. She could feel him chuckle low, her fingers grasping the fabric of his jacket; body pressed tightly, her thighs clamped against him once he'd finally angled it toward the correct direction of the road.

"You promised!" Hermione shouted against the buzzing engine below them, Draco lifting his feet from the ground to settle against the pedals.

"I never said when…" Hermione felt her body give a jolt, her head whipping back as the wind rushed over her when he took off without warning. Even with the clear visor on, and inside the tight, enclosed parking garage, she could feel the cool air rushing over her face and through the suddenly all too thin fabric of her clothing. She ducked her head low; the motorcycle dipping to the right and it was all she could do to hold on tight and lean with his body, screaming his name all the while to echo from the cold stone walls. She felt Draco straighten the bike for the first time, shouting back at her, "and I didn't expect you to be able to ride, freckles!" before he tore around another curve.

The wheels gave a squeal on the harsh pavement of the parking garage as Draco began to weave down, twisting and turning at such tight angles that Hermione could only clench every muscle in her body as tight and close as she possibly could to him, praying she wouldn't fall off or be sucked out into the night. With a loud scream from Hermione and the rubber, the back wheel spun rapidly as Draco whipped the back end of the bike around, shooting them out from inside and drowning out her panic entirely. The bike burnt a semi circle into the asphalt, whirling until Draco gave a hard pull, thrusting them out into the direction of oncoming traffic with a rather abrupt stop, the motorcycle jerking to the side so hard that Draco had to toss his foot off the pedal and catch it flat to stop the momentum.

A heavy gasp filled Hermione's lungs, the cold night air stinging her senses at the pause but it was short lived…just as quickly as Draco had settled the sole of his boot to the ground below, he gave a hard kick off, twisting his hand hard against the handlebar and speeding them forward into the night. Hermione's small frame gave a hard pull back at the quick start, her arms sliding a bit from his chest as Draco picked up speed, blurring so quickly that her eyes began to tear at the corners even beneath the plastic shield. Her fingertips were still sliding, loosening as she slid slightly back in the seat until she felt Malfoy's fingers wrap tightly around her wrist, giving it a firm pull to snap her back in against his back as he gruffed out, "you better hold on, Granger." Suddenly, Hermione found herself thankful that no one was on the road and praying to Merlin, Dumbledore, and Jesus himself to keep them off until Malfoy had safely taken them wherever it was that he planned on ending them up because right now she was pretty sure she was having visions of herself being peeled off the side of a minivan.

And just as quickly, and horribly, as she remembered from just moments before, Draco aparated them, bike and all, just as he sped through the blaring red light at the last intersection of his block but Hermione couldn't have told you that because her eyes were clenched closed as tight as she possibly could, her head buried in the back crook of Draco's neck with her breath caught hostage in the back of her throat just waiting for the impact. She tried to open a squinting eyelid but the pressure of the tube like suction was far too strong for any changing positions. Her teeth were clenched so tight they felt like they would shatter apart as her skin pulled harshly on the bone before the air thrust them out crudely into the air with a popping sensation on her entire body. The fabric of her jacket gave a crackle as it adjusted to the new location, Hermione's breath being punched out of her stomach with a huff when she felt Draco's hand squeeze along her forearm hard. Hermione realized she was to terrified to open her eyes to understand why Draco was gripping her arm so tightly where it wrapped around his waist instead of holding on properly like she was damn near positive he was supposed to be doing.

She felt almost weightless still, Draco holding her from being lifted into the air just as the bike's tires met the asphalt from where they'd been tossed out into the night, guiding the tires directly on the motor way lanes. They bounced with a hard squeal, Draco lowering his hand to the handlebars with a firm twist of his hand to send it speeding into the traffic, the streets loaming by around them as Hermione's butt bounced hard against the seat beneath her. Her hands were tingling, the blood pulsing from such a rush of momentum but all she could do was scream his name as loud as her lungs could manage as Draco sped and raced between passed cars, trying to find her fit in against his body like it would somehow shield her from certain death upon impact.

"Hermione…" Her hands were so tight against his chest that Draco was sure she was going to intertwine her fingers with his ribcage, "Hermione!" She still buried her helmet and chin in the back of his neck, her rapid breath sending the tiny hairs there alerted on end, "Hermione open your eyes." Draco's speed still continued to climb, his hands secure on the pull back bars, maneuvering them swiftly amongst the lines before he felt her finally lift her head from its tight position. Her body eased from his softly, her tension scrunching down when she began to sit back in her seat, taking in the night that engulfed them.

By the time they got into muggle London, it was a heavy blanket of blackness being harshly interrupted in the bright glow of bolted and glowing signs. They streaked the city in shades of colors flashing and glittering wildly from all heights and angles. Hermione sighed heavily at the glamour of it all whirling by them, hugging in to his torso with a soft murmur he couldn't quite make out under the roaring noise of the bike whisking them in shattering speeds through the town. Cars sped along beside them, Draco gliding between them as she watched it all dance around her. She could feel him laugh as her hands lowered against his body, resting at his belt line, finding her comfort in against him and this damned machine of his as he took it to new speeds and heights in the muggle traffic blending into the streets before them.

She was completely in tune with his movements by the time he'd taken them off the motorway and down into the city streets below, allowing the gravity to rest her against him, her weight shifting into him with ever slight adjustment he'd made. Hermione gave a short tug along Draco's sleeve as they pulled flat at the first stop light they'd rested at, her voice well above the whisper she was attempting as she nearly shouted to him, "Why is everyone staring?"

Draco attempted to tilt his head back to her but the helmet was hindering his abilities as he understood she was referring to the halted cars around them, peering back or over their shoulders where the two of them and his bike sat idle, damn near on display, waiting. Usually he would have informed her that he was Draco Malfoy, even if they were in muggle London, or that this was quite an exquisite motorcycle but he stuck with the answer he was most certain had the hardest and most truth behind it all, "they're staring at you, freckles. You in that leather…" What could he say? Draco couldn't help but feel a bit arrogant and despite the fact that Hermione Granger was the last woman on earth he thought he'd feel pride being stared at on the back of his bike, it amused him terribly.

Hermione was sure her cheeks stung a bright shade of crimson the entire rest of the ride, unable to hold the smile off of her face as she closely watched everyone take notice of their place on the road and for once it felt nice to be stared at for something other than being Harry Potter's best mate. Draco had carefully pulled the bike up against a curb space, flicking out the kick stand even as he held the bike up beneath him still. He held his hand out to her, turning his weight a bit to angle at her when she slid her hand from his waist and took a firm grip. She wasn't aware at how wobbly her legs were until she stood up on the peddle, swinging her leg back off and standing on her own two feet on the side walk while Draco busied himself setting the bike on its stand, bending to kill the engine and snatch the key into his confines.

Draco pulled his helmet from his head, casually shrinking it as he closed his palm while it moved to slide into the depths of his jacket pocket once he'd gotten to his feet but Hermione was still standing rigid where she'd first settled, frozen on step. Draco stepped up to her easily with a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, moving to pull her gloves off from her stiff fingers one by one before moving his hands beneath her chin, popping the latching and hooking his fingers around the bends to pluck it from her head. Hermione sighed out a heavy breath that Draco was pretty sure she had been holding since they'd first left, small droplets of waters frozen against the back corners of her eyes as she chattered her teeth at him while he pocketed her helmet along with his own with a tilt of his head.

"I can't feel my nose, Malfoy…" He was stepping up to meet her on the side walk, his height hovering over her when he tossed his arm over her shoulders, laughing hard with his fingers circling around her shoulder, pulling her into him briefly, shaking his head. Hermione easily folded into the side of his chest but it offered little warmth against the rough leather that met her even as Draco held her close to his side, angling next to her as he led them forward and out into the crowded streets.

"Come on, was it worse aparating on the bike or would it have been worse aparating that entire way and then walking?"

With a small sniffle, Hermione moved to fold her arms close over her chest, shivering into his touch while they made their way into the city still alive in its fullest, "with you it would have been terrifying either way, Malfoy." Draco didn't seem to pay her comment too much mind, gracefully stepping through the passing people with Hermione tucked under his arm, that casual Malfoy smirk plastered to his features while she frowned up at him. Draco was too busy nodding his head at a passing couple of strangers walking the sidewalk opposite of them, a young woman trotting along at the hold of her man's hand when the guy shouted out to Malfoy, "your girl looks great."

Oh that just wouldn't do. Hermione was now officially uncomfortable as she whipped her head to watch the man walking away without a second thought as she tried to stutter an 'I'm not…' before her head snapped back to Draco with a startled expression plaguing her entirely.

"What did he just say?" Her petite frame was becoming rigid beneath the hold of Draco's arm, her hand moving to give his side a small shove to create a couple of inches of space between them, shoving his arm to lift off of her in process, "What did he just say, Malfoy?"

"Relax, Granger." Draco looked just as astounded as she was at the moment, brushing off his jacket at her public outburst, "He said you looked good, do you want me to slit his throat?"

"No." Hermione pointed her finger at him, poking it into the center of his chest as she continued, "He said that _your_ girl looked good and you didn't correct him."

"If you heard him then why are you asking me, freckles? And I said I'd slit his throat if that's what you want. Do you want me to bleed him, Granger? Seriously…who's going to stand in my way?"

"Draco…" She wanted to say that this was probably, again, a horrible idea and that she shouldn't have came but she could only lower her eyes to the ground between them. She wanted to tell him that despite everything that was caving in between Ronald and herself, she was still his girlfriend and Draco was still the boy who treated her like dirt and who only now decided to change face and confuse her every thought with every passing opportunity.

Draco opened his palms to her, leaning his head down to lessen the gap, ensuring she heard his every word that was meant for her and her alone. "No one knows who you are here, Granger. Just some girl they passed in the street with some guy."

"You're a little too good at this sneaking around thing, you know." Never in her years did Hermione think she'd ever hear Draco Malfoy refer to himself as 'just some guy' but he was nonetheless as he stood before her. It wasn't the part of her that wanted to just enjoy the night as it unraveled that made her hate herself at the moment however, it was the want to trust the man before her after everything and still anything that he could do that truly had Hermione berating herself internally.

Draco's brows lifted up, rather amused at her comment as his hand moved to settle at the meet of her shoulder blades along her back, lightly persuading her to turn back to the streets ahead of them, guiding her to hesitantly start back to moving down the sidewalk. "Yes well, usually I'm the one doing the hiding…not being hidden so live it up, Granger." At that, Hermione slunk her arms around his bicep, hugging his limb to trap between them as she angled her head up to him, probably fully ready to analyze him and his but Draco lifted his hands to the vast opening before them, cutting her off from her thoughts before she could make them verbal, "now pray tell what is the first required item on this shopping list before your boyfriend comes looking for you?"

Draco didn't under notice the small wince that crossed her face at the mention of Weasley, her lips pursing in for a moment as she was fighting the thoughts down before his very eyes. "All I have packed and shipped is school required items." Hermione repeated her statement from earlier before she seemed to think it over, her arm still looped underneath his own as she counted the items out on her fingers, "Uniforms, robes, books, quills, parchments…" She paused to take a deep breath and Draco quickly closed his free hand down on her counting digits, batting them away.

"I get it, freckles."

"I need normal things, Malfoy…clothes. Dresses, pants, socks, shoes…" They stepped under the large walkway, monstrous iron beams twisting in a huge canopy above the city, intertwining the buildings and shops together delicately when Draco motioned to their left, "This _normal_ enough for you, Granger?"

* * *

><p>Shopping was never really Hermione's favorite thing in the world to do, despite her interest in finer things, but even she had to admit to herself that shopping with Draco Malfoy was an experience all in its own. It'd been so long since she'd had to chance to really go shopping, let alone go out, or the chance to visit muggle London and she'd nearly forgotten how spectacular it was at night. She never really was sure when they'd left a store and entered another from the second they'd stepped foot in that first building. It was all an endless stream of shops, vendors, bars, night clubs, and people crowding here and there to her. For a while, she just followed Draco around, gawking over this or that, trying to take it all. He'd practically had to force her to finally start doing what they came there to do in the first place…shop.<p>

It was awkward looking over any apparel to find something to suit her picky taste with Malfoy looming around but it wasn't hard to find items of her interest with such a vast selection. Draco made it hard not to enjoy his company, going so far as to prance out of the dressing room in whatever Hermione tossed in his arms as long as she emerged to model her own attire and Hermione had to wonder if this was truly the Draco Malfoy that Pansy Parkinson, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle and the rest of the Slytherins saw every day that he just hid from the world or if this was something he only brought out on choice occasions. Whatever it was, Hermione was thankful for it at the moment.

For Hermione, it may have been a series of carefree motions to Draco, but it was enough to give her the ease to begin feeling a bit more herself again. She wasn't the teetering shell of emotions between trying to forget the past and trying to maintain a relationship that was broken at every seam here with Draco, laughing through the city streets and joking around the splendor of stores.

Draco couldn't explain the next six hours with Hermione any better than he could have explained what an iphone was because the truth of the matter was that he loathed shopping with the hatred of a thousand suns. He had people for this…people he could have called to do this for her but it wasn't about getting the things she needed that had her wanting to leave tonight and he knew it. She simply needed to breathe on her own after a confining situation and that was something he could understand very easily. What he couldn't understand was why he was so willing to give it to her, however.

Every moment she stayed near him he wondered if he was damning his nightmares further into his head or if he was helping ease the notion that she was alright in his mind, for whatever reason it was necessary to do that. She made it easy to be near her, to watch her laugh and share stories, compare scars and memories. Draco couldn't help but wonder if this was how she was around Potter and Weasley, crossed legged on the stool once he'd finally convinced her that he would need caffeine in order to stare at more shiny objects that she called purses. Her cheeks were constantly powdered with a pale rose burning from her wide smile, her hands so animated with the laughter on her face when Draco informed her that if she ever tried to pull her wallet out when he was at her side again he would be forced to get her etiquette lessons.

He hadn't let her pay for a single thing. At first it only made her awkward, unsure how to handle someone, let alone a man who just so happened to be Draco Malfoy, buy her anything but that soon switched to confusion. Her confusion changed to irritation and her irritation soon morphed to an annoyed acceptance before she finally just accepted Malfoy's horribly old school way of handling money in the presence of a woman…even if it was her. He'd literally bought her every item that she'd thought she might want and then seventy others. He'd paid for dinner and now coffee once they'd finally settled in to the small venue still bustling with patrons in the night and still Draco seemed downright irritable that she'd even attempted to pay moments before while he sipped his coffee from the tall container in his hands. With a small yawn pressing Hermione's lips open, she moved to slide the back of her hand up to cover her mouth when she'd finished scoffing off his comment on her unladylike attempt.

Sure, he could have let her pay for her own things but he simply didn't feel like it. What? Oh, alright…Draco was sure this would be one of the last moments he would see the woman before him before school began and she would be entwined in her own life, her own romance, and for whatever reason, he felt compelled to ensure she could look back and have something good to remember whether it be about him, after the memories, or simply just when she needed it. It seemed lame to him but Draco felt it necessary to see her as her, even if it was just this once, before she transformed back into that frazzled little book worm he'd grown to ignore.

It almost pained him to say it, his fingers wrapped around his cup, placing the bottom against the shiny table surface, "It is getting pretty late. I should probably get you home so you can get some sleep, freckles."

Hermione had just finished stretching when he'd finished his statement, moving her hands to take a long drink from her own cup, closing her eyes when the warm liquid rushed past her lips. Running her tongue along the outline of her lip to rid it of the frothy foam clinging behind as she set her glass down to join him, lowering her legs to cross one over the other more comfortably. "I am pretty tired, you have to be too. I can't remember the last time I was out till…" Hermione moved the sleeve of her jacket to glare at her watch, gasping with wide eyes at the digital time staring brightly back at her, "Oh my God, Malfoy! It's five thirty in the morning!"

"Yep, that settles it," Draco clapped his hands on the table, pushing his stool back so he could rise up, "Time to go, nighty night."

"Oh my lord…I can't believe it's so late." Hermione was still reeling in the shock of the time, a slight smile creeping on the corner of her mouth at the thought of it before she shook her head, scrunching her nose and wobbling her finger at him, "Wait! I mean, hang on a second." She laughed softly at her correction, pulling her cup close to her body as she remained seated, "I'm not sure I, well, I don't really think that…"

Draco rolled his eyes, pushing his chair back beneath the table before taking his own cup into his hand, ignoring her pausing as he rounded on her, preparing himself for their leave."For fucks sake…some time this hour, Granger."

"I'm not ready to be alone yet! Ok?"

"Ok."

"What?"

"I said ok, Granger."

"Good." Hermione had her face tightly pursing together, fine lines of confusion beginning to seep in over her bronzed features before she tilted her head at him, "Wait…what?"

With a brief sigh, Draco stood before her, resting his cup against the top again closer to her own, his opposite hand leaning his weight against the back of her chair as he spoke to her, "you'll stay the night, if you're not ready to be alone. Not that big of a deal, Granger. It's not like we won't be sharing a dorm for the rest of this year."

That's right. It wasn't that Hermione was being forced to share a Heads title with the one and only Draco Malfoy that had Ron's wand in a twist. It was the fact that somehow the powers that be at Hogwarts decided it best to lock the two of them away in a dormitory together and alone. At the time of reading the news, Hermione had nearly passed out and even still she was unsure of such a rather unreal idea. "I don't know…I mean are you sure?" She looked like she didn't want to like the idea but the way she was ringing her hands around her cup had Draco believing that somehow she truly felt safer this way, at least for now.

"We can stay at your mum and dad's but chances are Weasley is going to come looking for you sooner or later..."He was just getting ready to finish his sentence when she did that awful cringing thing again that had him doing some facial morphing of his own. Draco scowled, moving his hand to motion at her, "What the hell is that about? Why are you so worried about seeing your own boyfriend?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hermione looked truly shocked at his sudden question, shaking her head before he interjected, "What are you worried about happening?" It wasn't like she was afraid to be alone for fear of being hunted, harmed, or killed because that would have made sense to him. She seemed to be willing to be alone if it meant not being faced with Weasley and all she could do was sit there still shaking her head at him.

"Nothing! Seriously…I just don't want to fight right now…with _anyone_."

Hermione had seen him angry but never so bitter as Draco turned his head away from her, taking his sights out into the night through the large window behind her but he certainly didn't appear to look like he would be dropping it any time soon. Much to her own shock, Draco ducked his head, swallowing harshly before he spoke lowly to her, "Fine, freckles. For now."

And just as he said he would, Draco let it be with the dangerous promise of later. Hermione had expected Draco to throw a tantrum for not getting his way like she was accustomed to but he simply let her have this one. He hadn't said much to her the entire way back to his flat, not even as he opted to take the lift up to his floor instead of aparating them up. He'd offered her a small smile once and a while when he'd glance down to catch her staring, trying to pick his thoughts apart but his words remained still. Once, he'd pretty much growled at her when she'd tried to help him with her bags but still, no real words. She felt like she should apologize, for what she wasn't quite sure, but she wasn't sure why she should feel sorry for not wanting to expose herself so openly even if watching him move so rigidly back inside his foyer to deposit her bags to the floor was pulling at her heart strings.

"Draco…"

"You're tired…" His words were slightly harsh and abrupt, Hermione flinching at the change in his tone and demeanor towards her as he straightened his back, turning to face her, "…Why don't you take the bed."

"You're not coming?"

It was Draco's turn to flinch. It was a statement he was truly unprepared for. He'd shared his bed with many women in the past, occasionally finding himself in too much of a stupor to kick them out before the morning light but none since the war. He'd never been at ease enough to allow a woman to sleep beside him, especially now, and he certainly had never thought about that woman looking slightly hurt at the notion that he'd decline being the one he'd accept it with. "I…" that was all he was getting out, paused and lost on his words.

"Please? I said I don't want to be alone."

"Merlin fucking…" Draco smacked his hand on his forehead, sighing heavily as he ran it down the center of his face. Granger had him stuttering and she had his pulse moving so quickly in his chest that he wasn't sure how to hold his composure better than he was at the moment. He couldn't stand her begging, it physically made him ill, and it took everything in him to roughly swallow, growling lowly into the room as he tossed his arms down to his side. Hermione was surprised he didn't stamp his foot, she would have, but he opened his hand up to the hall lining down to his bedroom, his brows raised, his eyes wide in a rather annoyed and startled expression without a word.

"Thank you, Malfo…"

Hermione held her hands in front of her waist, her smile light as she angled to face him while she made her way by, Draco's hand snapping up to cut her off, "I don't even want to hear it, Granger…go." How could she not grin? The great Draco Malfoy looked downright defeated and pushed beyond his limits as he trudged his way into the room behind her, pulling his wand from his back pocket to flicker the lights on around them. Hermione hadn't waited for the lights, already pulling the jacket from her body when the amber glow engulfed her with Draco's stare, shaking his head as he turned it away from her shrugging off her heels all the while.

Draco kept his back to her despite the fact that he could hear her wrestling around to pull off the clothes trapping in the curves of her body. Any healthy young man knowing that there was a half naked woman behind him would be insane not to take a glimpse and from Draco's vast knowledge in the field, he was sure Granger was down to her knickers by now but his eyes remained true to the spot against the wall, scolding himself mentally for feeling the need to be noble, for once.

Draco carefully removed his boots and coat, placing them over a chair beside a particular set of drawers after he'd discarded his belt. He was just lowering his hands to the clasped button of his jeans, trying to focus his eyes permanently glued to the ground before him when she'd set her hand against his back. The small motion nearly had Draco jumping into the drawers in front of him, whirling around with a startled, wide eyed expression before he let out a choked noise. She was indeed down to her knickers, her arm tossed over her bare chest with her first offending hand out stretched and pointing to his chest as she demanded, "shirt, please."

Draco was still in shock to the nearly naked form that was Hermione Granger all but on display before him. He was sure she was hiding something more than those curves beneath her robes but this wasn't the picture he'd truly imagined. He was sure however that he'd never be able to forget it much to his own displeasure to that thought. "You want my shirt? Did I not just buy you an entire sleep wear line?"

"Stop gawking and give it." Hermione bypassed his question as Draco lowered his eyes off of her bronzed skin to the grey t-shirt still clinging to his chest before she added, "I don't know who in the world has touched those clothes before me tonight and I am not all about going to clean something before I go to sleep."

There was a brief smile hinting around the pale curve of Draco's lips when he raised his gaze up to her, "Is that the excuse you're going with?"

"It's not an excuse!"

Draco only gave her a disbelieving look before he moved to duck his head and reaching behind his back to tug the shirt up and off of his body, talking to her all the while. "You'd rather wear my dirty t-shirt than a remotely cleaner brand new shirt because you'd have to clean it…" He easily removed the fabric from his shoulders, taking it in a single hand and holding it out to her with a cock eyed expression. He wanted to tell her that she was supposed to be this undeniably prudish bitch but she was damn close to flashing him as she tugged it over her head, popping her arms out of the holes to let it drape loosely against her petite body that Draco found himself lost for the words. "You're right. That isn't an excuse because that makes absolutely no sense to me."

"Yes, well, you giving me the shirt also makes absolutely no sense to your argument now so…" The slow bend of Hermione's shoulder slid to pop a flash of skin out through the neck of his shirt as she rested her hand against her hip, turning to brush past him, her eyes boldly raised up to follow his own the entire path.

"What?" Hermione glanced over her shoulder at Draco's slack jawed expression, strolling to crawl her body up the bed from the foot and moving to tuck her feet in to slide her body beneath the covers as Draco's sight locked onto her. She moved like she'd done this a thousand times, crawling into his bed in his shirt, adjusting the pillows behind her head and beside her where he was sure to lay.

Those platinum brows shrugged the smallest inclination higher with another lost shake of his head, tossing his newly discarded jeans off onto the chair, "Absolutely nothing, freckles. Absolutely nothing."

She seemed horribly amused watching him move so rigidly to turn back the sheets dressed in only a pair of dark grey boxer briefs but he certainly wasn't awkward about his own body. Years of Quidditch had done Malfoy well, his frame toned accurately against pale alabaster flesh but he looked more than concerned that there was an equally naked woman waiting as he slid his legs in the bed, waving his hands to dismiss the lights when he leaned his back in against the head board.

"You're not going to have a heart attack are you, Malfoy?"

"I might actually, yes." He wanted to lie to her and tell her to dream on, be the strong weight barring man he'd tried his damnedest to stay true to but she was moving closer against the mattress, the smooth expanse of her legs brushing against his in her movements.

The room was dim, the weak moonlight emitted softly through the sheer white curtains draping the full glass windows lining two sides of Draco's bedroom but he could still see her watching him softly from where she was propped up against the pillows. His arm lowered to slide around her shoulders, moving down the bed a few inches to better tug her closer in against her body. She moved easily at his acceptance, wrapping her arm around her own body and resting her other against his chest while she intertwined her legs in against his own. She was still staring, even as he hugged her head in against his chest, resting his chin at the top of her head with a small sigh, lowering his eye lids in the rising hours.

"I'll be gone in the morning." Hermione's lashes fluttered against his bare chest as she closed her eyes, flattening her fingers with a soft adjustment comfortably against him.

"I'll hunt you down, Granger." The words bit out low and rough at the back of Draco's throat, his sleep deprived day finally catching the better of him but he could still feel her mouth smile against his skin.

"Goodnight, Draco. I had a really nice time…with you…tonight." Her own tone was loopy in her exhaustion, a small yawn rounding the end of her sentence when he wrapped his other arm around her body, allowing his finger to rest against the exposed skin of her hip from where the shirt had been lifted in her movements.

"Then I guess you'll be here in the morning."

Draco's breath was slowing in his chest, his hold on her soft even as she raised her hand to slide the length of his left arm tucked around her back as she angled to face it. The small movement seemed the jar him, Draco raising his head only in the slightest to watch her adjust herself, or so he assumed, but he sat up much more appropriately when he felt her thumb popping the latch and buttons of his arm band, exposed to her touch, with quite the quick determination.

"Stop." He hadn't pulled his arm away but he did move his opposite hand in an attempt to pull hers from her actions but she'd easily swatted his away, not allowing him to cause much of a fuss before she'd tossed it off onto the night stand resting back on her current side of the bed.

"Seriously…Granger…" His words were stressed but even he sounded too tired to really fight with her as she slid to face him once again. She'd voided herself of her own arm bands when she'd slunk into his clothing earlier in the night. He'd already flashed her fears once and she was currently exposed to him in that sense there in nothing but his t-shirt.

"You can put it back on if you really want but I'll leave." Draco opened his mouth in protest, his features obviously unamused at the turn of events even as she curled back in against him, reaching back to wrap his arm back around her body without concern. Draco wanted to inform her that she was forcing him to lay beside exactly what he'd loathed for so long while baring his hatred mark beside her and how truly fucked up that really was but her slowing tone silenced him quickly.

"Would you rather expose yourself and lay here with me, Draco…or would you rather go hide and be just like what it was marked to be, Malfoy?" Leave it to Granger to use his own phrasing against him…but she had no idea what she was really asking him, now did she?

Draco laid rigid for a few more moments against her, feeling the air of the room running over the scared remains of that dark mark where it laid around her waist until she moved to rest her arm a top his own mindlessly before he gave in to her rousing. The long line of his body settled against the mattress, the muscles in his face still tight in his distaste even as he began to let sleep take its hold. Draco wasn't able to think of the symbol that she was covering beneath her delicate flesh for much longer but he did manage to get out a few more words to her before he felt himself be pulled under the call of the sandman.

"I don't keep it covered for me, freckles…"

"I do…" Even as their confessions lingered in the air, masks shredded and haunted memories spliced open to their common touch and sight, they laid together in the warmth of their surround.

Hermione never thought of the few times that she'd fallen asleep next to Ronald and the uncomfortable hours that followed nor did she think about the fact that she was lying next to another man as they laid silently in each other's arms. All she felt was the warmth of his body engulfing her, holding her close like only a lover should, his breath shallow in his chest, heart beating softly against her own with their confessions lingering quietly in the air above them. All Hermione heard were Draco's words echoing over and over again in her head, lulling her off into slumber behind a face she was growing far too accustomed to far too quickly. The twisted memories melted under investigating touch, sending Hermione's lids low one final time as she allowed her mind to fade off into sleep beside the only person currently she felt could bear the weight of her own scars.


	4. Chap 4

While it may have been easy for Hermione to forget her reality and slip beneath Malfoy's charming, not to mention sufficiently distracting, nightly adventures, it was not as easy for her to wake up in the consequences of the morning after, half plastered to his unconscious, half naked body all too unaware of the impending doom that was beginning to beat that terrible rhythm in against her heart. The very second her heavy lids blinked open in the harsh daylight braising the room in its entirety, she felt the sinking panic crash into the pit of her stomach, sending her heart up into her throat, threatening to escape her mouth if she dared open it, forcing it down as it screamed at her to run immediately before he awoke to the same conclusions.

Despite the fact that he'd nearly asked her to stay, or practically told her she'd better, Hermione tore a page from Draco's very own book and did the only thing she could rationalize in such a situation that she'd truly never been in before…she turned her back and ran as fast as she could. The moment she could dislodge herself from his bed, scramble to dress her nerve wrecked body, and aparate home with the utmost urgency and speed, she was gone leaving nothing but her dozens of shopping bags and the lingering scent of her skin on his sheets in her wake.

It didn't take her long to plunge herself into the hottest shower she could manage once she'd made it to her parents flat to properly prepare herself for the day but the haunting ghost that was Malfoy still seemed to hold scent against her flesh, corrupting her senses while they harbored on her brain. The steam of her shower wasn't nearly enough to get the comforted touch of his skin off of her and she couldn't help but wonder if Ron would know something was awry upon seeing the mere sight of her. No, she hadn't exactly betrayed him but that didn't stop the fear of him bringing the situation under the light of his every hostile microscope.

Hermione stood with her shoulders slumped before her bathroom mirror, fully dressed in her own clothes that she'd managed to snag from Malfoy's bathroom floor and run a quick refreshing spell over, with her hair tugged back into a loose and rather unconvincing pony tail, staring weakly back at the judgment dancing on her reflections face. Despite the layers of makeup she'd already tried to glamour on, heavy bags still hung beneath the lines of her eyes from her late night adventures, her lids hanging in her exhaustion. She looked as awful on the outside as she honestly felt on the inside. Hermione drug the pad of a single forefinger a crossed the rise of her cheekbone, smoothing the bronzer with a small shake of her head as her reflection sighed out, "You know it's wrong."

The words sounded so much worse coming from her own voice, lowering her head a few inches lower while she drew her bottom lip into her mouth to clench between the rows of pearled teeth. It was right, well, she was right. She knew it was wrong, even if she hadn't done anything truly physical to cheat on her boyfriend; she had still sought comfort from another man. She had sought out emotional comfort from the very man that she knew would rile up the situation further yet as much regret as she should have been feeling for Ron, however, her heart couldn't help but shred a few tears for what she'd now done to Malfoy.

In truth, Hermione often wondered after her life altering war experience with Draco if her insatiable curiosity for him was simply a half cooked idea in her head to ease the continuous pain and heart break of her relationship, if it was all just some fallacy in her head like Harry had so often tried to convince her. She had known that by coming to him last night, by running to him in weakness that she most likely would not like the outcome but still she ran. She knew it was a bad idea because in truth, what good could have come from that situation? What good had come, if any? And now she had to live with the fact that in nearly a week she would she sharing a dormitory, unable to hide, from the man that she used and ran from at first falter of her own problems.

She had used him, right? That was why she felt so horrible…right? At least that was what she was choosing to convince herself that it was only that. All she could do was put faith that Malfoy would surely hate her, truly hate her, after this and most likely go back to putting her back onto his cold, ignore list if she was lucky. He could go back to his old ways and she could try and swallow her pride and slink back into the crumbling debris of her relationship and attempt to wade through the smoke with a bit more clarity, even if she couldn't hold her head high.

Hermione made her way drudgingly into her parent's quaint kitchen; her eyes dazing over the letter Ginny had left, sighing wearily as the words burned her already worn eyesight.

_Hermione –_

_Harry and I were really worried about you so we stopped by but you weren't home…_

_So now Harry and I __are__ really worried about you so do us a favor and owl us back, yes?_

_Love,_

_GW_

Hermione had scribbled Ginny a quick note back, trying to assure her that she was fine but no one birthed by Molly Weasley ever took 'fine' as an appropriate answer. Before Hermione could even turn away from the parchment, a loud snap sounded the arrival of a rather high brow raised, red headed witch glaring wilding in her general direction.

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><p>Just like before, Hermione screamed every night behind his state of slumber and even with that very creature lying in his bed, she screamed still inside his head. Always with the screaming! With her blood curdling cries nearly breaking his bones, and by the time Draco had found a way to silence her, he was awaken with his own shouting, his fingers clutched inside the sheets. Those cerulean depths of his shot wide in his alert state as Draco sat drenched in a fine sheen of sweat covering the lengthy muscles that lined his mostly bare body, and yet, completely alone.<p>

This is exactly what he worried about the moment he'd gotten his Congratulatory Head's letter and realized he would inevitably be sharing a dorm with someone, let alone Granger, but as much as his dreams still plagued his senses, the reasoning behind them, who had weaseled her way into his bed the night prior, was missing in action.

His sight was hazed in the hostile daylight forcing his brain to snap alert much quicker than he normally would have liked after a few drinks and such a late evening but despite all of that still lingering hard on his cells, it didn't stop his from scanning the confines of the room to indeed concur its emptiness for nothing but himself. Bare feet slid to the smoothed planks of wood beneath his feet, tossing the pale sheet from his waist as he lunged upright to that towering height, padding off quickly into the hall.

She wasn't in the bathroom…nor was her clothes. She wasn't in the spare bedroom, in his office, she wasn't anywhere really…and even in the realization that she was gone, just as she said she would be, Draco still scanned the lengthy spaces of his apartment still half expecting her to spring up and shock him for the umpteenth time.

She'd still yet to do just that by the time Draco made his way down the hall and into his living room, his pale face already contorting in a bit of a bitter state when the hard, solid knock at his front door snatched him from his faltering thoughts. It was brief and quick but it was enough to have his feet making a quickened pace to snatch it open from its framed confines. With a sour distaste plastered against him, clad in nothing but his boxer briefs, Draco stood tall glaring out, half expecting, still, that Granger would be standing awkwardly awaiting him on the other side but instead he found himself being greeted with the cold, quirking stare of Blaise Zabini, eyeing him over the bridge of his nose with that dark raven fringe fallen swiftly over his shielded eyes.

Draco, standing with his hand against the door frame, his opposite clutching the door wide but he certainly did not wait for a verbal response from his house mate as he gave a rather audible groan. It was enough of a greeting, for him at least, with Draco's chosen use of dramatic eye roll before he sent his body turning back over his shoulder and retreating back into his apparently empty apartment.

"Well, Malfoy, I'm quite pleased to see you too." Blaise's voice, low and dragging in his somber drawl normally eased Draco's nerves but it was only grating on them currently while the tall man stepped inside, closing the door behind him with a soft click. Draco's only response was another grunt, tossing his slender digits up to rake through the shorts strands of peroxide blonde, clasping his fingers behind the curve of his head as he made his way for the kitchen. It was the last resort but even before Draco poked his head in through the open doorway, he wasn't surprised to find that alas…still no Granger.

"What pray tell are we looking for, mate?" Draco's hands lowered to his sides; nearly flinching as he cocked his head over his shoulder to notice how close Blaise was standing behind him with his own head peering round Draco's shoulder to scan the vacant room for himself.

"_We_ are not looking for anything…" Irritably and with much fanfare, Draco tossed himself into the room, padding to a small and particular drawer to snatch it open and free the small silver case from inside and into his waiting grip before jutting the drawer closed with the side of his hip. Draco leaned his weight easily back against the counter, crossing his ankle over the other as he flipped the small case open in his waiting palm, pulling a small, thin cigarette free from its hold to slide it in between the part of his lips with a sad sag drifting his head forward.

She'd just left, like she'd told him that she'd had every intention to but he'd honestly thought that maybe…no. He shouldn't have been thinking about this at all. She'd left all of the things she'd claimed she needed so desperately littered in bags amongst his living room to, no doubt, to go running back to her childish boyfriend so he could have another temper tantrum he was sure but why? Draco wasn't sure which part annoyed him more currently…that she'd gone back to _him_ or that he even gave a fuck.

Blaise was eyeing his friend through the fallen lengthy strands of his hair, giving his head a small flick to better access his sullen mode while he swaggered his way to lean across the sink there beside Malfoy, lifting his hand to brush the sheer drapes back along the rod, opening the room in the illuminated glow of the day already rising so bright amongst the hours.

"Ah…it's a who. Well…_who_ were we looking for then?" His voice had picked up so a matter of fact, so affirmative that it had Draco snapping up from his rather slack postured hold to whirl round behind his shoulder before he could finish the words off his lips. He half heartedly snapped his fingers against the tip of his cigarette, drawing in a long line of breath as the embers sprung to life, charring the paper as he took in just what exactly Blaise was staring at, and questioning.

With the cigarette dangling between his lips, Draco huffed out a long line of silver smoke to twist eerily into the room, his sapphire lined hues shifting at the message delicately written in lipstick against the panes of glass staring back at him in all of its oddity.

_Secret amongst former enemies? I'm sorry._

It was written in the same deadly shade of crimson that Granger had painted on her lips when he'd seen her a few weeks ago but such a drastic shade had Draco's face paling, his mouth twisting against his trade mark smirk, and his stomach dropping, churning, and flipping all at the same time. It seemed such was always so when it came to Hermione Granger.

Draco could only shake his head with that patented smirk still holding true even as Blaise plucked the cigarette from his mouth, taking a small drag himself before flicking the fluttering ash down into the waiting sink, folding his arms lightly along his chest as he narrowed his eyes in against Draco.

"Let's try this again, Malfoy."

* * *

><p>Ginny's hazelnut hues were studying Hermione with quite the comical interest, tilting her head from side to side before nodding approvingly at the affirmation that she was, indeed, alright. Hermione could only stand meekly before her friend there in the side of her parent's kitchen, nervously trying to smooth her still damp hair back into its tie while she tried to place on the best friend welcoming smile she could muster for the time being.<p>

Ginny's smile was much warmer than Hermione's had slid off, marching forward to clasp her hands against Hermione's mildly slumped shoulders, her face holding a light twinge, ready to wince at the worry still harboring behind her light lashes.

"You sure that you're alright? Harry said he'd heard you two fighting most of the night…"

Most of the night? She'd spent most of the night being wrapped up in her own mental escape to be fighting with Ron for the majority but in truth, most of the time they were ever even together anymore, fighting was all they did. Even though Ron was her own flesh and blood, Ginny was still doing her best to be a good friend and it was that truth that pained Hermione to know that she honestly did not deserve it at the moment, especially from a Weasley currently.

"Yes, Gin, really…I'm fine." Hermione gave a small nod, her smile all too ready to falter as she parted her lips to continue but finding the need to shout her sins too strong only had her shutting it quickly once more, turning from Ginny and her comforting hands and moving quickly to the stove, her brows raised as she questioned from over her shoulder, "Tea?"

Ginny didn't look all too convinced but with the mention of tea, her head flopped to the side, clasping her hands in front of her body with the offer, "Yes, please!" Ginny moved through the room easily, watching as Hermione swiftly set a kettle to the stove, busying her hands in attempt to slow her mind. "What was it about this time?"

Hermione sighed, a few unruly strands wavering down before her face while she dropped her hands to the counter on either side of the stovetop, cocking her head round to scrunch her nose at the petite ginger that was jumping and sliding her butt back along her counter to better comfort herself.

"Malfoy."

Ginny scoffed audibly, slapping her knee and shaking her head with a wave of disappointment crossing her pale face, "Why am I not surprised?" Her feet swung lightly where she'd perched herself, clicking her heels along the counter doors below her as she added, "I love him and all, he's my brother, don't get me wrong…but sometimes…"

Up unto twenty four hours ago, Hermione would have exclaimed to her friend how she couldn't understand his constant insanity over the self proclaimed Prince of Slytherin but now all she could do was stand there with the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that perhaps Ronald was right. Well, at least about the part that she should stay far away from Draco Malfoy.

Hermione's tongue was nearly bleeding from the stress of biting it, pulling down a few cups and moving about making their tea, her slender fingers all too unsteady as she attempted to pull free a few stir spoons while Ginny continued on, her hands gripping the ledge of the counter, her chin tipped up to nod her head to and fro as she stared at the ceiling, oblivious to Hermione's damning discomfort.

"Well anyways…I sent Harry to take him to Hogsmede to finish getting the liquor for the party. I figured they could have a little sense talking while we set up and relax without distraction."

Hermione was just pulling the kettle from the stove as Ginny mentioned the party, nearly splashing the tea over the rim of her cup as she whipped her head to her quickly, "Gin, I completely forgot!"

"What?" Ginny's thin brows were scrunching together, lining her brow slightly in her confusion to what she was forgetting exactly as she leaned her head round to her, "You forgot about the party? Come on…" Ginny paused, her mouth pulling to a single side as she took a slow breath in, watching the shock sinking in along her friend as she covered her mouth staring back. "Seriously?"

"Oh my god, Gin…"

"How could you forget that Harry was hosting a back to school party…after everything?"

"I…" Hermione turned quickly back to the counter, hastily pouring Ginny a cup before setting the kettle back a top the stove, moving to hand her the steaming cup with the sad, apologetic tone lacing her words, "I've been so distracted with everything happening with Ron…and going back to Hogwarts."

"And Malfoy." She said it so easy with her brows raised high as she tested her tea with a small sip, cupping her hand over top the rim as she eyed her wearily from above it.

"What?" It was Hermione's turn to look a bit confused, or at least mock it to the best of her ability as she turned to face her once more, cradling her tea in between her hands.

"I mean, you're pretty much stuck with him once we get to school so you've got to be stressing about how Ron's going to act. I know Harry and I are."

"Right." Of course that's all she meant, because there is no way that she could know about last night…right? This wasn't alright. She felt like one big ball of shame and all she wanted to do was feel a bit more normal for once after all these years but things only felt so much worse off.

* * *

><p>"What did you do, Malfoy?" Blaise was thoroughly amused but his tone was as flat as it always came.<p>

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Hell, Draco wasn't sure he believed any of it right now. It couldn't have been more than a few hours since she'd left his life with the utmost urgency but if he was being honest, he'd be able to admit he was more than a bit anxious to see if she'd reappear once again.

"Why don't you try me." Blaise had fully adopted Malfoy's stance from earlier, propping himself back on the bend of his elbow along the counter, crossing his ankles with his watchful amusement plastered over every inch of his structure, Malfoy's cigarette dangling from the hold of his fingers resting round his side.

"I was looking for Granger." It sounded so foreign coming off of his tongue even to him, his face scrunching in the thought as Blaise drew his own back at the thought. "Yes, the one and only, Hermione Granger." He admitted it like it was the lamest thing that had ever left his lips, confirming it, dull and dry, pursing his lips once they'd made it from his tongue and shaking his head with the distaste it left behind in his mouth.

"No way," Blaise gave a chuckle, ready to continue his chiding until he got his way until he saw how displeased Draco was with the words he'd just spoken, his own face dropping to something more serious, "No shit?"

"I took her out last night."

"I'm sorry, what is happening right now. Have you lost your bleeding mind, Malfoy?" The normally somber expressions of Blaise's face began transforming rather anxiously as his body began to stiffen upright, settling his feet to the ground while Draco moved to toss his elbows down over the surface of the island smack in the center of his kitchen, leaning his weight in against it with the icy glance of silver specked hues staring up to his berating mate.

"Yes…but I assumed that was nothing new between the two of us."

"I knew that you were still pretty fucked up about her but this is just _fucked_ up. You know this is fucked up." Blaise had loamed a few steps closer, his middle and forefinger pointing the burning cigarette outright in warning as he shook it at Draco wearily. "God damnit, Draco…you know!"

Draco's hues were low, unable to watch Blaise's quiet reactions any more for the moment as he shifted to raise himself up onto his palms, standing a bit straighter as he attempted to hold on to a bit of his composure while he stood still half naked being verbally beaten down by the one person he could actually attempt to speak to. Well, at least on this level.

"What was I supposed to do, Blaise? She showed up all…" Draco paused, lifting his hands in the air to weigh the words to describe her sorry appearance without sounding like such an idiot before he gave up and dropped them to his sides, "She was upset. Was I supposed to shut the door in her face?"

"No," Blaise answered him honestly, his own hands laying against the island top as he squared himself off against Malfoy like the table of Able and Cain, staring each other down in the debate, "but you weren't supposed to fuck her!"

"I didn't fuck her." Draco voice growled at the back of his throat, his lips curling a bit in the bare of his teeth before he bitterly confessed, "She came over, we talked for awhile, went out for a bit, she stayed the night…and as you can see, she is gone."

"Oh so fucked up." Blaise leaned his head back, the dark strands of his hair sliding from his vision as he shook his head, lifting the cigarette to draw in a hard breath of smoke, trying to find the words to express his thoughts currently. Blaise's chest deflated heavily with his long sigh twisting smoke off into the beckoning room as he turned his darkened eyes back to Draco as he attempted once again, "Listen, Malfoy. I know that you want to fix things because you didn't then but you can't. You were already teetering on the edge of banishment from the entire wizarding world…do you really think this is going to help? Now? Seriously, Draco…"

"I could have done something and I didn't and you know it, Zabini."

"No, you couldn't have. Because had you done a blasted thing, dear old aunty would have cut her to pieces just to enjoy watching you break into the mad man they'd always dreamed you to be."

Draco didn't have the words for him at the moment to express his anger but it was rising rather quickly to a place he certainly didn't want to be at. His hands shoved harshly from against the hold of the island, tossing himself back into the open room of the kitchen as Blaise raised his hand in a mild defense to the steam threatening to rise from Draco as he began to pace.

"I thought when you saved her arse that you'd be done with this shit. You wanting her is fucked up, Draco. It's like a mediwitch being in love with their patient…"

"I am not in love with her, Zabini, and how is that even close to this situation?" Draco had managed to stop pacing long enough to narrow his displeased scowl down against Blaise, his arms folding tightly against the broad span of his chest.

"I don't know, it just is." There weren't many times Draco had truthfully seen his friend loose his so carefully suave composure so animatedly and the stress of it was beginning to weigh all too seriously upon him but the fact of the matter was that Blaise Zabini had stood by his side through every error, fuck up, fight, and screw up that Malfoy had made since the day they'd locked friendship. Through it all, had Draco not had the man nearing his breaking point before him, he wasn't sure if he would have opted to go through with operation: go back to Hogwarts with your tail between your legs. Yes, Draco still had a few acquaintances but he couldn't afford to keep many after it all and most didn't want to risk the association so he'd already prepared himself for quite a lonesome year. After all, despite his better efforts to right his wrong doings and fight the good fight alongside Potter, most felt his attempts were too little too late and his damning actions were too horrid to forget. That was not to mention his own house mates who couldn't stand the very sight of someone who could turn his back on his own family and his own kind. Draco knew that in the dark corner of his life where he stood, the only creatures guarding his back stood the man before him and Miss. Pansy Parkinson. The rest revolved as they may but apart from them, who did Draco truthfully have to disappoint anymore?

With a painfully slow movement, Blaise lowered his head down, sliding the length of his fingers back through the silken strands only for them to slip back into the messy grace of tendrils fallen across his face. His irritable posture shrugged lowly from his shoulders, his hand resting to the slender fold of his hip as her cleared his throat for a bit more clarity, handing to cigarette back to Draco with his opposite, "Seriously? You seriously want to do this?"

"What do I really have to lose?" Draco had either foot on the ground, his hands out held as he stood before his friend, his head lightly shaken with the shrug of his own shoulders before he gladly accepted the thin stick, placing it between his lips to take his own drag along it.

"She is with Weasley." It wasn't stated nearly as harshly as Draco had expected. He said it like it was just some statement about the weather, simply and slow, moving to slide his own arms in a fold over his chest, his thin dark brows raising in silent question beneath the heavy fall of his hair.

Draco's hands dropped to his side, his head cocking with a sharp tilt, narrowing his cerulean depths into thin slits with the thin line of his lips pursing tightly together at a single side of his mouth, only his words dulling to part them, "When have I ever given a fuck about Weasley?"

"Yes well _she_…" Blaise moved to untuck his hand, pointing a finger to the offending words sharply contrasted back to them in the daylight hours there against his window, "gives a fuck about Weasley, I'm afraid." Blaise was shaking his head insistently, the disbelief still a bit overwhelming for him as he moved to refold his arms once again, watching as his friend made no motion of remorse for the nearly betrothed couples happiness.

What could he do? Draco had been screwed up in the head over Granger for longer than Blaise wanted to remember and despite his hopes that he would mature past his strange obsession after his attempts to risk his own neck to save the girl during the bloodiest battle the wizarding world had ever seen, both Blaise and Pansy both feared that by returning to Hogwarts, by being nearly chained to her in such a close proximity, that there would be far worse of a problem then they'd imagined, especially when Malfoy kept on with his insistent dreams of remorse and regret.

"Well fuck your life, Malfoy." Blaise gave one last shake of his head, starting to feel dizzy between that and the conversation, giving it a small toss back with a light twinge starting to tug at the corner of his lips, "I really hoped I wouldn't live to see the day."

"Yes, well…"It was all he could manage out, his brows cocked in his own disappointment for himself, his hands lightly clasped at his hips as he shrugged once more, his cigarette threatening to spill the charred ash to the floor below them as it dangled between his loose fingers hold.

"Well, alright then." Blaise pressed his lips together under his smile and slid his hand into the comfortably tucked away pocket resting on the inside breast of his jack, folding his chin in to eye the folded piece of parchment hidden inside. "I had intended to see if you felt like crashing a good time and getting blitzed tonight…" Draco remained silent as Blaise moved to unfold the rough edged paper, straightening it in his grasp before he moved to lay it flat on the island, turning it with a twist of his wrist and sliding what appeared to be a torn article from The Daily Prophet a bit closer to Malfoy's line of sight.

There in black and white was a delicately fluffed article about Potter's reunion bash, of course, courtesy of Wonder Boy and being thrown with the efforts of the entire trio no doubt. Draco scoffed at the image of Potter clomping out of the front of a rather large venue, pulling up his cloak hood and shielding away from the flashing camera bulbs dancing behind him as he rented the space that the author of the article was all too happy to gawk and exclaim dreamily about. Draco drug the top of his tongue over the roof of his mouth, ready to vomit as he skimmed through the words when Blaise dropped his hand beside the page, leaning forward in his stance to tilt his head down to Draco's rising face as he finished on, "…but shall I assume that we are to be going to get the girl instead?"

Draco said nothing, propping his chin on the top of his fist while his lips twisted at the edges against his grin, Blaise's face far less excited as he attempted to question his friend once more, "Can we still get blitzed at least?"

"Absolutely tanked. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need it." With a scoff and a rather affirmative nod, Blaise pressed his hair back from his face for the hundredth time since he'd walked through the door.

"I'm pretty sure we're all going to need it."

* * *

><p>An entire pot of tea later and Hermione had finally managed to convince the all too knowingly Ginny Weasley that she would indeed live another day and that she was plenty capable of pulling herself together to do as she promised and get the party in working orders. Whether she was in the party mood or not, Hermione had made a promise and Ginny had truthfully looked downright offended that she could forget something that meant so much to Harry. Well, that and she was sure Ginny wasn't quite as savvy around decorating spells as she would have liked to be and the thought of something for Harry not being perfect would only turn her into a tearful, balling mess sobbing in the corner by the time the guests arrived.<p>

It was nice to be with Ginny for the afternoon. It was a pleasant distraction for the most part, even if the heavy thoughts were scraping at her insides apart beneath the surface. Once Ginny was finally satisfied with Hermione's carefully masked state, they'd aparated straight to the large bar that Harry had rented out to get started on the work ahead of them and boy did they have their work cut out for them.

For nearly three straight hours, Ginny and Hermione scrubbed every nook and cranny of the bar that looked like it had the dirt swept under the rugs for the last twenty years before they could even begin the lengthy decorating process. By the time the ceiling sparkled to the floor, the bar to the windows, the two of them were too exhausted to even think about helping host a party in another eight hours but somehow they'd managed to muster enough energy to pull it together to get the job done.

Harry specifically wanted everything black and white as not to show prejudice to any house, trying to put forth his best face but Hermione suspected that that was an easy thing to do when you stood at the throne of the triumphant team, even if none of them truly felt like they'd won much in the end. They'd lined the ceiling in varying sizes of white and black sparkled paper lanterns all aglow in quite a beautiful array of lights dancing above the entirety of the bar. Black velvet drapes and sheer white fabric lined the walls in large panels, trailing down to the littering of pearl and midnight balloons lining the walls from corner to corner, climbing up and drifting softly amongst them. White Roses and Black Dahlias sprung from the vases amongst the tables, scattered around alternating table cloths and chair covers. They'd ensured everything was prepared down to the cups being used and the trays they would be carried on. By the end of it all, Hermione was not only patting herself on the back but reconsidering looking into the field of decorating with her skills broadcasting back around her.

It took her a good ten minutes to convince Ginny to take off to start preparing for the party and considering it was already past seven thirty by the time Hermione had managed to wrap everything up and finish putting the finishing touches on things, she was glad she did. Hermione had less than an hour to be dressed and ready to fake a smile through the night of familiar and haunting faces of the past and near future so she wasted no time aparating quickly back to her parent's home to start the process she'd seriously have to downsize in such a time crunching limit. It truly was a tedious process to prepare oneself for such an event, not to mention doing so while you felt as though your heart was shattering for all the wrong reasons and it seemed that upon arriving home, Hermione would only find more tugging anxiety lurking in the darkness.

The smoke had just barely finished twisting off of her small frame before she went to run the length of the hall in efforts to toss herself into the bathroom but the littering of bags deposited amongst the kitchen floor nearly sent her crashing to the tile below her. Her steps faltered easily, tripping over one plastic bag and dodging the next before she'd managed to make herself feel like king kong and stomped her way through the other end of the city of tissue papers and shiny bags.

"Mother of God!" Hermione clasped her hand over her chest, panting hard in astonishment as she turned to face the pile of offending, not to mention nearly deadly, items staring back at her. Those chocolate orbs narrowed softly, widening as it hit her like a ton of bricks: They were her bags. Malfoy must have sent them…he had to of sent them. Oh Merlin. Again, Hermione felt her pulse quicken, sharply turning her head to each corner of the room to ensure no other surprises jumped out at her when the post against her sill caught her eye. She couldn't move her feet faster to snatch the two letters free, scrambling to open both as quickly as she could from their envelopes, letting them crumple to the floor as she harshly rushed her fingers to unravel the bent paper.

She felt like she would have an anxiety attack, eyeing the bags from the corner of her eye like a monster ready to transform as she took in the first letter shaking unsteadily in her hands.

_Mione-_

_I'm really sorry about last night. I hope you'll forgive me and still be my date tonight? _

_I'll meet you there at 9._

_XO RW_

Hermione let out a battered sigh, lowering her hands, letter and all down to her lap. She didn't know why but Ron's letter made her feel a bit more at ease even if nothing had truly been resolved. In honesty, this was usually the way it worked with Ron. He'd get angry, sometimes a bit hostile, and after he'd cool off, he'd apologize and act like nothing ever happened until the next thing triggered his temper to flare. For some reason just hearing the part that he was ready to forget, even if she could just make it a couple of hours, would be better than nothing because after everything in the last two days, she wasn't sure how much more she could handle.

Hermione drew her lip in against her teeth, chewing it softly as she plucked the second letter in front of the first, lifting it back before her face with a bit less apprehension plaguing her.

_Let the hunt begin._

_FE_

Hermione was already standing still but suddenly she felt truly frozen in her stance, clutching the letter with her eyes dragging over each line of letter to feel them burning inside her skull. What the hell was this? It was a feeling that Hermione hadn't felt in a while, backing herself up against the counter, scanning the room for the millionth time to ensure her safety and quick exits. The hunt? What hunt?

The letter slid from her hand as she tossed it up to smack over her heart as the words flooded back to her.

_"I'll be gone in the morning." Hermione's lashes fluttered against his bare chest as she closed her eyes, flattening her fingers with a soft adjustment comfortably against him._

_"I'll hunt you down, Granger." Draco's voice was low and rough at the back of his throat, his sleep deprived day finally catching the better of him but he could still feel her mouth smile against his skin._

This wasn't good. Why couldn't he just drop it like she'd expected him to do? Why couldn't he be the cold, thoughtless, cruel, Prince of hate and all things malicious that she was used to? Hermione couldn't help pacing a bit as she clutched the rapid beating in her chest. She knew Malfoy had owled her the letter but why the signage 'F.E.'? Why would he…

"A secret amongst former enemies…" her lips could barely let the words roll off as the light bulb clicked behind bright eyes with a light smile playing a small ghost of a tune against her full lips, threatening to give her away to herself but Hermione didn't have time for any more debating thoughts.

Even in the short span of time, she set to fully tackle her challenge to leave no spot of her appearance go unnoted. Hermione's unruly hair had long sense been tamed into much softer curls to fit her maturing pace and now was no exception. The long, caramel tinted strands waved elegantly down the length of her face to brush off in soft twisting curls down the center of her bare back. Her eyes smoldered in a heated gray, a light bronze accentuating the delicate lines of her face to the soft pout of pink dancing along the swell of her lips.

She had felt completely wrong taking the things that Malfoy refused to let her pay for and despite the fact that she truly hadn't wanted to find herself back on her knees wishing herself back into the impending downfall that was just ticking to blow up in the distance, she still opted to wear one of the dresses that he'd taken the time to owl over. The second Hermione saw the dress last night, she felt herself want to drool, and having the opportunity to wear it out was just too much to pass up. If she was going to have to live through this night, she might as well feel a little good doing it, no?

It was a smooth pale gray satin that hugged against the petite curves of her frame, stretching from shoulder to shoulder in a delicate scoop to disappear in a curve low against the back of her hips to expose the length of her spine to the night. Silver speckled lace overlaid perfectly against it, stretching down the length of her arms from the slender bend of her wrist to the bottom of the dress cut to rest against the center of her thigh. Hermione ran her hands down the smooth, sleek fabric of her new dress, unable to hide her own satisfied smirk. She did, indeed, feel good, for the first time since before she'd woken up in Malfoy's bed.

Hermione shifted her weight, her long, shapely legs stretching to climb inside the pair of shoes Draco had insisted would match perfectly. Naturally, they were silver and gray, and despite that being a cop out to say they match and that he has a fashion sense, Malfoy had been right. The material almost appeared to be lace but she knew it simply couldn't be, hugging the high heeled ankle boot, exposing her toes and resting with a small silver sating bow to tie just above her Achilles tendons at the back of her ankles. Hermione quickly grabbed her clutch, brushing her hair from her shoulders and tugging the material of her dress into a suitable position before she could shimmy appropriately in front of the mirror to take in the picture that would be Hermione Granger for the evening.

"He's going to like that…"

Hermione eyed the body in the mirror staring back at her, turning slightly this way or that to watch the dress bend with her body as she mocked a few actions in the night to ensure she wouldn't go flashing anyone, snapping her eyes up to herself at the spouting of words.

"I've heard just about enough out of you tonight." Dressed like a goddess or not, Hermione stuck her tongue out at her own face, not bothering to watch herself feign shock as she stomped from the room rather childishly, her heels clanking coldly on the ground in her efforts to track down her cloak.

With another stumbling attempt, this time in near stilts, Hermione scrambled her way past the chaos of clothes tossed now atop the bags they'd arrived in, barely teetering to snatch her cloak from the back of the chair and toss it across her arm without spilling into a pile of lace and hair. The dark black fabric tossed easily along the bend of her forearm, cursing loudly at the clock staring back at her from a crossed the room.

It was already eight thirty. She'd already missed a half an hour of the party and left Harry and Ginny to begin the festivities without her. Surely Ginny would understand she needed a moment to prepare though and she still had a half an hour until Ron said he was due to arrive. Everyone would be expecting her by now, but, they'd also be expecting her to arrive with Ron…Well, if Ginny wouldn't forgive her for taking far too long to prepare herself into the stunning creature she was radiating to be tonight, she surely would forgive her for going to make up with Ron and bringing a happy couple to the party versus the bickering, feuding duo they usually tend to be, right?

With a determined smile, Hermione closed her eyes tight, holding her clutch close and aparating herself straight to the Weasley manor. Somehow she found it easier to run with her tail between her legs knowing the mood Ron was in considering his letter but Hermione still felt a horrible loaming ball of anticipation twisting in the pit of her stomach when she'd popped inside the small, cramped foyer at the bottom of the long twisting staircase in the center of the Weasley house. Her will was true, but her conscious was guilty as Hermione swallowed her pride and moved to bring herself up to the riser of the battered steps, chewing nervously on her bottom lip the entire way.

* * *

><p><strong>*I just wanted to say a special thanks to everyone who is following this story and to all of you who have reviewed it! It is definitely keeping me motivated and keeping me inspired to keep it going. I've got big wicked plans for our little chars but I'll apologize for any OOC-ness now. What can I say? They're too much fun not to poke around a little bit. XD<strong>

**Next chapter will be up soon, promise.**


	5. Chap 5

By the time Hermione finally reached the top she felt as if her lungs were just about ready to give out, gasping lightly, her hand on her hip as she finally huffed once she'd met the tall landing lining the length down to Ron's narrow room. She hadn't even reached the party yet and her feet were already sore! With either hand on her hips, she trudged the small gap remaining, taking a heavy breath as she pressed the handle open into Ron's room, a small smile on her face as she ducked softly inside, sliding in to raise her hands out to her side to show him the package that was his girlfriend and date for the evening.

"What do you think of your date, mist…er…" Hermione froze speechless, her tongue locked behind the row of her teeth, her breath caught in her chest and her hands stiff in the air as she stared in wide eyed awestruck at the man she'd just ducked her head and crawled back to, despite his wrong doings, damn near plowing some nappy headed brunette into the cushions of his bed. She instantly felt her stomach drop, the former nights drinks suddenly catching up to her and making her want to hurl it all up on Ron's pale arse just feet from her now, sticking up in the air while he whipped his head to face her with that dumbfounded look tugging every corner of his face wide.

"To think…" it was all she could manage to breathe out but it was still barely just above of whisper, turning her head and heals with a rapid pace dead set back to the stairs and she'd nearly made it down the first step on wobbling heels when that cheating bastard half hauled her back round the corner.

"Please, Hermione! I didn't want you to find out like this!"

"Find out? Find out? I just caught you cheating on me but you've _been_ cheating on me?" Hermione wrenched her wrist from his grasp, shoving his naked body back from her a few inches. She'd come here to forgive him, feeling like trash for being overly friendly to someone and as it turned out, he had been being far more than friendly to some hoe for some time. Hermione's head was reeling, her eyes rolling up to the ceiling as she shook her head at him, covering her mouth with her hand as she sighed out in astonishment, "Oh my god…that's why you wanted to meet me at the party tonight, not before…"

"Hermione, please…"

"…because you had already planned on meeting her here before…"

Ron made a move to reach for her again but Hermione snatched her arm much quicker than his skills could manage, instead moving quickly to hold his hands up defensively as she narrowed her finger threateningly against him.

"What did you owl me and then owl her? Or was it the other way around?" Usually it was Hermione that was doing the begging, pleading with him to just listen to her and hear her out but for once in their relationship, it was Ron who was standing there dumbfounded, lost for words as she stood her ground, the hatred radiating off her very being like a fog in the night.

It was like something inside of her had finally snapped. For years she had worshipped the man in front of her, holding him close like a safety blanket to support her in the chaos her life always seemed to ensure but suddenly the sweet pastels she had painted him with had vanished before her eyes and the boy she had blocked out was quite apparent to her judging eye.

"I've…been seeing Lav for about five months now…" His hands were flat palmed open in front of him, his eyes half squinted just waiting for Hermione's lash but she was too busy gawking past him in through the open door way at, indeed, Lavender Brown scrambling to pull her much too tight clothing over her sloppily curved frame.

"You son of a bitch…"

"Hermione…I was going to tell you I just didn't know how to do it. Every time I've tried it just wasn't the right time or we just wound up fighting so…"

Hermione's eyes were brimming with tears, locked on her replacement falling over herself to get proper in such an indecent situation behind the babbling idiot in front of her. She could hear her heart literally crumbling and breaking off inside of her chest but her own blood beating was beating so loudly in her with her own vibrating anger that she wasn't even sure that she could make out his words anymore.

"So you treat me like dirt, Ronald Weasley? You don't have the decency to break up with me so you cheat on me behind my back and break each and every piece of me down at every chance you get? You are a low, disgusting git and the two of you deserve each other." She couldn't help the venom that laced her words with such a deadly accuracy, her teeth bared, mascara running down the gentle curve of her cheekbones, eyes viciously carving a hole straight through the center of his forehead.

"Ronny…" Hermione snatched her head up and out of her seething fumes as Lavender clomped her way out of the door frame, shaking the entire structure of the stairs on her way, "…owl me when you wrap this up, ok?"

"You fucking bitch!" Hermione was past the point of rage and logic as she roared out past Ron, Lavender's eyes flaring up before she quickly ducked to squint them closed, aparating off her very spot up on top the stair case hall, leaving her alone with the one person she thought couldn't have possibly hurt her anymore before tonight.

Hermione was cringing, tears breaking the threshold of her eyes, spilling down to the lace of her dress as she sobbed out. Ron made another feeble attempt to step forward, trying to pull her close to him but Hermione was, again, too quick and firmly gave him a hard shove back once again, sending him crashing into the door frame behind him with a grunt. Hermione moved a slow bending of her knees, her body moving to bend forward, holding herself as she cried harshly, trying to bring her eyes up to him through the watery blur, "How could you put me through this…" She felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest and there was nothing but the hallow beat inside her ribcage now, shredding her open more with every breath she took. Everything she'd ever known had just been snatched away from her in a matter of seconds, twisting into something ugly and unknown right before her very eyes and she wished it would just swallow her whole already and put her out of this misery but he didn't deserve any more of her tears.

Hermione's eyes were dazed when Ron tried with earnest to make his way back to her, his hands grasping her biceps roughly as she cried out, straightening herself up to tug herself away as he pleaded.

"Mione, listen to me! I didn't know what to do! You're just so…please, Hermione, listen to me!"

"Get your hands off of me, Ron Weasley!" Hermione's fingers moved to attempt to pry his fingers from her arm, wincing as he only tightened them, holding her like a rag doll as she felt her own finger tips beginning to go numb as she hissed out lowly, "You're hurting me, let go."

"Hermione just listen to me!" His face was beat red, flashing shades of crimson so deep it spread over his entire body as he fought to gain control of Hermione's lashing arms. His large hands grasped and pulled until he finally swung a single hand back to plant it hard against the fall of her cheek. Hermione did her damnedest to twist her wrist her from his hard grasp before his hand smashed down against her face, dazed in the shock but she fought him none the less, tugging in her whimpering breaths still fighting to free her hand from his confines. With one last effort, she shoved her hands to the ceiling, trying to break his grip but in her attempts she felt something solid connect with the side of her cheek once again, knocking the breath, words, and sound out of her mouth completely as she stumbled to the railing.

Hermione blinked rapidly where she stood knocked back, leaning over the rail, trying to gather her wits in her confusion, lifting her hand to gingerly touch the stinging in her cheek. She could feel her flesh burning under her touch but she was sure the heat radiating out from those darkening hues was far more volatile.

"Oh Merlin, 'Mione…I'm so sorry I didn't mean…" Ron's steps, slow and rolling, were closing in behind hear, creaking the floorboard, his voice so quiet now in the silence that befell them as he spoke.

"Don't you fucking touch me…" Hermione's eyes blazed darkly, narrowed into thin slits against him as she stood, her hand covering her cheek as she rounded her steps away from him, backing into the center of the hall, her hand sliding to tug her wand free from her clutch that she was nearly shocked she'd managed to hang on to in the mist of everything. Her fingers shook but she thrust the thin wand out with a firm hold, pointing it without hesitation at the center of his chest with the dangerous drop of her voice "…ever again, Ronald Weasley."

With tears staining heavily against her cheeks, Hermione snapped him out of her very sight, aparating on the spot without another word, leaving him in the same state of awestruck heart break that he'd just momentarily presented her with.

* * *

><p>By this point in the night, Draco had already slithered his way into the finely tailored attire for the evening and primped himself in a way that only a Malfoy wouldn't consider unnecessary. While he'd spent far too much time adjusting his hair in that strange messy pull once again, he'd left himself in the dark after affects of his unshaved scruff, leaving himself in that casual disheveled charm fitting him much too well and all too uncommon. Blaise had Pansy sitting against the arm of his chair, smoking earnestly off the long end of a cigar paper that he'd rolled entirely with marijuana, filling the large room quickly in its haze. Pansy's harshly painted lips pulled back hard as she laughed outright, slapping her knee where her legs crossed as she leaned forward to offer the cigar off to Blaise by waving it in a twisting motion before his face. They seemed to have no problem enjoying the company of his home but Draco found himself feeling a bit stuck waiting for the one thing that he still couldn't understand waiting for.<p>

Draco had just finished downing back a good quarter of the bottle loosely clutched in his hand, settled in against the large leather sofa beside his only two remotely trusted companions in the world when a pair of fingers snapped his attention alert by clicking directly before his face.

"You with us, Malfoy? We haven't even left yet." Blaise moved to slip up from the chair, making his way onto the sofa beside Draco and carefully gracing himself down as he cradled his own drink in his hand offering the half smoked, laced cigar out to him with a quirk of his brows as Pansy moved to slide back into the empty space Blaise left behind, folding her long legs over the arm.

"You've been a bleeding zombie all night already, what the hell is with you? You daytiming?"

"No, I'm not bleeding high." Draco had just set the rolled tip of the paper to his lips when his own sentence dawned on him, drawing in a slow, deliberate breath, trapping it in his lungs as he lifted his hand, bottle and all to gesture out with his choked back tone, "not on that at least." He couldn't help but laugh, his face burning a bit as he choked on the harsh smoke stinging in his chest, pursing his lips to blow a long line of smoke up to the ceiling above them.

"Usually by this point I am pulling your pants back on for you and trying to push you and some poor innocent girl out of the public eye so you do not embarrass what is left of your good name but alas the mighty Prince of Slytherin is sitting like a bump on a log, sipping from a bottle like some common folk." Blaise's low drawl continued on, mocking a shiver while Draco drew in another hit, handing it off to Pansy before he could turn his face to his mate resting his arm against the back of the couch and leaning in with amusement to Draco's annoyance evident on the furrow of that pale brow.

"We haven't even left for the party yet." Draco reminded him hastily, all too reminded of the bottle in his hand as he moved to toss a good majority of the liquor back past his waiting lips, lowering his head as it burned its way down his throat to corrupt his senses and help wash away the plague that was Granger in his head.

"I stand by my statement."

Pansy laughed outright at Blaise's comment, sliding her legs from the arm of the chair to settle her tall black heels to the ground below her, rising to her feet in her rather form fitting black lace dress hugging her from knee to neck, leaving her pale, shapely arms bare to the world aside from the delicate black gemmed bracelets clinging on her slender wrist.

"Well I don't know about you two but I'm sufficiently sloshed and I'm so ready to get this mother effin' year started with a black out bang."

What could they say? They loved to party and partying was something that the head thrones of Slytherin certainly knew how to do. Half stoned, definitely drunk, and already partially wobbling, Blaise and Draco climbed to their tall heights to take suit with their lady escort of the evening. Even half in the bag, the three of them were still always the dashing.

The pale grey button down lined in thin pearled silver lines, trailed the front of Draco's button down, tucked in the dark gray slacks resting far too low on the dangerous depth of his hip bones, holding true with the raven black belt cuffed against it. His sleeves were rolled loosely beneath his elbows, a black leather band snug around his forearm wrapped with a thin silver piping to match the dark dragon hide shoes dashing against his feet. The first few buttons had long since been plucked open against the collar of his shirt, flashing the white lining while it lay against the untied white bow tie hanging loose around his neck.

Blaise had opted for much darker attire, a midnight black suit fitting his sleek form much too accurately to not be made for him and his body alone, his buttons plucked open in the same half drunk fashion as his house mate in the deep shade to match. Between the three of them, Draco was beginning the feel like they'd dressed for his mood. Twisting colors of crashing clouds, smoldering smoke corrupting the skies and threatening the spill the furious rain down onto the waiting streets. It was time for the royalty of Slytherin to take their seats at the throne once more, ready to leave nothing but the wake of their storm behind…or at least his.

* * *

><p>Hermione hadn't really thought too clearly when she'd aparated away from the hideous mess Ron had just made of her life, and truthfully she was lucky she hadn't splinched herself when she'd aparated with such fury and speed. Her mind reeled beyond her control, her arms clenching tightly a crossed her center with her clutch trapped between when she popped inside the back hall of the large bar Harry rented space in for the evening. She wasn't even aware where her cloak had disappeared to but she feared that the shaking and shivering she was unable to stop her body from doing had nothing to do with the night air that was still latching to her skin.<p>

Her cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes swollen and blotchy with heavy red spots where she'd spend the last twenty minutes sobering her long applied makeup right down her cheeks but she refused to cry anymore for him, she couldn't give him that pleasure.

It was late in the party, the noise and music thumping down the hall leading out back, into the kitchen, or in the face the troops so completely against her better judgment, Hermione fell victim to her own selfishness and moved to trudge her way down the hall, sniffling hard and choking back on her own breath with her futile attempt to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle the breaking sound of her heart shattering around her. Her vision was blurred beyond her control, lips parted in a weak quiver when Harry's unmistakably unruly hair flashed glance in her eyes just as she made her way through the long sheer drapes leading inside the bar. She couldn't help but drop her head, her heels clicking far too loud for her liking of subtly and invisibility as she tried to rush through the scene, hoping her fallen locks would shield the disaster that was her face with a straight path to Harry.

The moment she was within arm distance, her hand slid up against his shoulder, her voice a whimper in the chaos of sound around them, "Harry, I need to speak with Ginny…" Harry was nodding his head insistently with the music, turning his head over his shoulder to nod sloppily to the person holding on to him in greeting, he suspected, before turning his head right back to the back of the bar. Comically, Hermione watched it sink into his brain before she could ask him again; whirling around faster then he intended to toss his arms out in firm hold of her own arms, nearly sending Hermione toppling backwards.

"Hermione! Merlin…What happened!" His eyes were opening far too wide behind the frame of his worn glasses, sliding out of his bar stool to clutch at her chin but Hermione could only tighten her lips with a horrid shake of her head, begging him once again, "Please, where's Ginny, Harry? I can't…I need to talk to her…"

Harry had seen one too many fights between his two closest friends but this was beyond something even Harry could tolerate. Hermione could barely speak straight and she was barely able to hold herself upright in front of him. His heart broke for her as he slowly shook his head, raising his brows with the sad gaze on his face, "Hermione I'm really not sure…but I'll find her ok?"

"No…" Hermione was furiously shaking her head but Harry was determined to help as he moved to lower his own head a few inches closer to her, trying to convince her that he would be able to take care of this, anything to ease the pain of her face.

Blaise had just sauntered his way back from the bar when the very woman on his topic board of discussion came flying through in a whirl of curls and lace. They'd only arrived a good half hour prior but he was sure it was about twenty eight minutes too many already. Blaise had truthfully never had much of a problem associating himself to fit his social needs but anytime one chose to link so closely with a Malfoy, it tended to make things a bit more hazy and tonight really felt no different. The moment they'd made face, all eyes locked on their every movement. It left him always feeling a bit like the middle man, ensuring that he'd keep the peace while he awaited people outside of their personal circle of friends to say some low comment about Malfoy or his family and then invite Blaise to their weekend jamborees. Still, Blaise found himself in the gray, both dark brows lifted against Pansy as he approached back to the small table they'd made junction at to watch the spinning action.

Their table was already littered with glasses but that didn't stop Blaise from settling three more shot glasses down and diverting them off between the three of them.

"Bottoms up, Malfoy. It's show time." Pansy had already tossed back her shot before Draco had finished wrapping his fingers around his own glass, eyeing Blaise questionably in his half drunken stupor while they both tossed the harsh amber liquid back. Pansy's sloping nose scrunched at the burning, chasing it with a hard swallow from a mug of butter beer as Draco shook his head at the standing man motioning over towards the bar. Draco tilted his head to see nothing but a slurring of color of people, glancing back with a shake of his head and his arms held outright.

"What are we talking about here, Zabini?" Blaise once again motioned with his head, his eyes widening, turning his head to stare in the general direction that a rather unfortunate looking Granger was pouring her heart out to her dear house mate. Draco scoffed, placing his hand on the table and leaning over Pansy to crane his neck around to see just what it was that he was hinting to when the sight of her standing there, grasped in Potter's hands as she wiped the tears from her eyes suddenly clicked in his brain.

"No, Harry stop…I can't do this, ok? I'm sorry, tell Gin I'm sorry…I can't."

Draco stood immediately from his chair, the legs groaning loudly against the wood planks of the floor boards with his hands splayed flat on the surface of the table at the sight of Granger pushing her hands against Potter's chest, shaking her head fiercely and backing up a few steps into the crowd.

"I have to go…I'm sorry Harry."

Blaise slid easily into the vacant chair besides Pansy, his arm folding to rest a crossed the back of her chair as he raised his brow to Draco's all too worried expression focusing such a stare straight through his current state as Hermione tore her heart stricken face away from Potter, whirling on her heels and making a quick motion for the door. She'd let out a small cry when she'd smacked dead center into some Ravenclaws chest, trying to wave off his apologies while she swiped at the blotchy skin beneath her eyes with a pinched expression while she attempted to squeeze by.

Draco's feet moved without question around his chair, already rounding to the space Blaise had just previously occupied, his attention pulling his eyes away to the fleeting woman escaping to the doors to his friends with a much distracted attention.

"I need to…uh…"

"Go on already." Blaise tossed his hand in the air and shook his head, cocking it off to the side as Draco nodded in his confirmation, his feet skipping to jump around the back tables, nearly jogging towards the entrance despite the haze that seemed to be sobering up against him all too quickly against his better knowledge.

"Granger!" Draco raised his hand once he'd gotten anywhere near her to draw her attention, glaring harshly to the lingering partiers gawking at his chase but she was much too far ahead to be headed by his calls. Many years of Quidditch did not come without advantage, however, and Draco found his small windows to scrape and squeeze through trying to catch up to her. It was beyond Draco how any woman moved that fast with spikes holding them up but Hermione had managed to make it all the way outside the interior bar doors and into the thin breezeway before Draco could thrust his hand out to grab hold of her hand.

"Granger…what's…" Hermione recoiled her hand so fast from his light touch that even Draco took a step back with his brows raising upward. Fingertips widened, almost fearful he'd hurt her, although he was sure he hadn't, when she flipped her hair a crossed her shoulder in a falling wave of chocolate, her wide eyes blazing in harsh red lines and screaming clear liquid swimming wildly over top of them.

Draco stood tall before her, his weary stance straightening at the fall of his eyes taking her in. Her face was lifted up to him now, her mouth open in attempt to say something, anything, but the only thing that came out was a soft sigh as she tossed her hand over her mouth once more, tearing her eyes from him and turning in effort to run once more but Draco moved far too fast to let that happen. He'd practically slid to a halt on his heels to dive between her and the door, his hands still holding outright, trying to inch closer to her, trying to calm her in some way as she fled for Merlin only knew where.

"Freckles…Hermione what happened?"

"Draco please let me go…I can't…he just…"

"What? He just what?" Draco couldn't seem to stop shaking his head at the babbling witch in front of him. She was beyond coherent words, searching her surroundings for a place to hide, ready to crumple to the ground in a heap before him. She wanted to be angry, she wanted to break things, primarily a one Ronald Weasley's face, but for some reason, standing before Draco was only leaving her ready to fall down.

"Hey, hey…" Draco tried again, moving his hands with the utmost slowness to reach his fingertips to slide along the rise of her jaw line, moving to cup her face to draw it up to him, his eyes pleading with her as she stiffened hard in his touch. "Hermione, he just what?"

"Malfoy let me go, please, the party…" Her eyes were darting over his shoulder and likewise over her own to peer in through the sheer drapes lining the doors barely covering up the background noise still beating in against their ears but Draco refused to give in to that request in her fallen state. With his hands still resting to cup her cheeks, Draco moved to pull her face back to him and settle it there once more, his thumbs brushing to apple of her cheek to swipe the blotchy tears only to earn a sharp cry from the woman he was trying to console. Again, Draco froze instantly, removing his hands a mere inch on either side of her face as he stared at her with shock, trying to decipher what he'd done this time to earn such a reaction.

It was Hermione's turn to look with shock and horror as Draco narrowed that concern in against her face, leaning in as he carefully moved to pluck her shielding hand away from her cheek when she moved to cover it. Hermione's bottom lip quivered as she sniffled back his inspection along the sore tingling against the swelling along her high cheekbone, the hard red mark bright even as it began to shade heavily underneath the bitterly battered flesh.

"Mother fucker…" Draco's lips pulled in tightly together, his hand still holding her own hand a few spaces from her face, his other lingering on the other side as his nostrils flared, his hands dropping to her shoulders with a quick motion to move her and step aside.

"Draco, wait!" Hermione made quick motion to grasp at him, her hand clutching his forearm as it retreated from her shoulder.

"Let go, Granger. I'm going to fucking kill him. Where is he?" He wasn't even listening to the woman who was now sobbing hysterically again as he tried to pry her fingers from his arm. "Let go of me, Granger! I am going to kill your fucking boyfriend."

"Draco he's not even here!"

"Then where the fuck is he?" Draco tore her hand from his hand and whipped around to face her, his expressions alarming Hermione a tad too much as he loamed over her in his heated question. Draco was beyond himself currently, his knuckles burning such a hard shade of white from the close clenching that he swore the skin would rupture his blood out between the cracks he was creating.

How dare that piece of filthy lay his hands on her? He'd behaved like a complete arse running after her when he'd seen her flee moments before but it seemed callous to think of that considering the fact that he was at a state of losing his grip on reality with anger with the urge to match Weasley's face to her own and then some at the moment.

"Granger…where is he?"

"Draco stop!" Draco stared at her with his own fury forcing down in the urgency of her own strangled gasp, lowering her head down low with the sound of her begging him digging at his senses. It was beneath her…even to him at this point.

Hermione turned her head up to him but he was too busy pacing his steps in the small space to notice, his hand constantly rubbing over the scruff of his chin, "I knew he was a fucking coward but I can't believe he actually hit you." He was nearly vibrating beneath the surface and it was evident in the way his movements almost twitched but Hermione could only hold her arms tightly around herself again when she turned as he raised the storming hues against her again. "Granger he fucking put his hands on you! He hit you!" His emphasis on it was nauseating to both ends when he said it and Hermione could only stare at him with her hand over her mouth, trying not to crumble to the ground in a heap and wish the floor would swallow her into the hell she was already feeling.

"Draco…"

"Bloody hell…freckles…" The sickening revelation had Draco's intense hatred bubbling somewhere past a level he was capable of controlling.

"Draco I can't do this. Please…" Again with the begging…Draco turned his head in a slow slide, his hands rising to fall against her arms once again, nodding with the sour swallow of his unimaginable hatred forcing down, finding it hard to settling his eyes on her entirely for the fear of simply leaving her despite her request to hunt the sorry son of a bitch down himself.

"I need to get out of here. I can't be here." Hermione stood tight, the music beating in against the glass around them as she confessed herself to him, standing in his hold.

"Ok, ok…ok, Granger." Draco sounded unsure of his statement as Hermione felt about it, the wince on his face never ending as he finally brought himself to look at her fully once again, standing tall before her, clutching her arms to hold her before him, "Where do you want to go?"

Her face was still downcast, her eyes the only lifted grace upon him as she opened her mouth once more before it closed with a heavy slump of her shoulders forward. How could she answer that? Before three minutes ago she wanted to go cry in her bed until she couldn't breathe anymore. She had truly not expected to run smack dab into the man she'd run out on but despite leaving him after his rather on the line attempts, he stood solid before her, trying to do his best pick up her shattered pieces.

Hermione suddenly lifted her head, her body straightening up before she tossed her falling height in against him and into his waiting chest in one quick movement. Her face buried into the crook of his neck, her arms tight around it while she cried her heart out on to his skin. "Gods, Draco, get me out of here!" For a moment Draco stood rigid, his hands open in the air before they slowly closed in around her. He tried to console her once the fog had cleared of her body shuddering so brokenly against him, his hands folding in to clutch her close as she held him tight to her tiny frame. Draco calmly stroked his hands down the sleek curls of her hair, pleading with her to look at him with his hands but Hermione only cried, refusing to let go of him, her legs weakly wobbling beneath her as she babbled on.

"I don't want to see these people! I don't want them to see me…to see me like this…" Her sobs were so broken against his ears, his face pained visibly as she clawed him closer. "I don't want to remember his name…I don't even want to remember he exists right now…please."

"Shh…freckles…please." His hands were so light over her, brushing the line of her neck, spanning the soft curve of her spine exposed under the light weight of his hand smoothing down and dragging back up as she clung.

Draco's hands combed through her dark curls, trying not to wince himself when his fingers brushed the battered state of her cheek while he held her against him, feeling her breath still rigidly rasping through her small frame. His fingers dipped against the gentle curve of her jaw line, dropping his forehead against her own, his tone rigid and low, gruffly biting out the words to her alone in the room, "I'm sorry." Hermione said nothing, her tears silently falling as she tried to slow her breathing with her arms trapped around his neck, raising the blurred sight up against him sorrowfully.

"Can we go? Please? I need to forget…"

"Ok." Draco nodded to her softly, his lips pursing hard in a thin line, the shadows playing deeply ainto the etched bone of his cheeks as he turned his head over his shoulder to the door, peering out at the bustle of the party still raging on inside before setting her back with a glance. "Blaise and Pansy are inside. Let me just…"

Hermione was already tensely looking over his shoulder in to the room beyond them, the drapes hindering most of her line of sight but she was sure he wouldn't lie about Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini being inside if he too had managed to make an appearance much to her surprise and glory at the moment.

"No…Draco I…"

"Granger, stop. You want to forget? Then this is what we're going to do…" Draco moved to snatch the door open, clutching the brass curves of the handle back as he motioned for her to make her way back in. Hermione stared hard, her words lost as she fixed him with a lost stare but like Draco, at this point, what did she have to lose? She honestly couldn't feel any worse then she felt right now and she was in no position to turn down someone, even if it was once again the comfort of Malfoy, to help aid her in her pity party. Draco hadn't waited for her long, his bitterness still far too evident as he snatched her hand in his own, tugging her in and whisking her along the back in the quickest, maneuvering free path he could find as he mumbled lowly, "I think even I'm going to need to forget right now…"

Hermione feared that Draco was telling the truth much too honestly as he said it, ducking her head as she moved to slide against the back corner, his hand lifted in motion to the couple sitting at the table to get up from their seats before they'd even neared. Draco was so busy motioning that even he hadn't noticed Harry stand once again from his seat at the sight of Hermione nearly being hauled back into the party, her expressions blank, on the hand of Draco Malfoy.

Hermione, too, was lost in her haze, and she hadn't even recognized Blaise until he'd stood up rapidly from his chair at the sight of Granger being half drug in by Malfoy but Pansy sat with her brows inched up in a strange fashion that Hermione really wasn't quite sure how to make out. Slowly she leaned her chin up to Blaise, her tone flat as she questioned, "What exactly did I miss here?"

"Dooms day came early." Blaise said it simply down to her, his hands against the table as he eyes Hermione's petite frame standing against Draco's side in an eerie picture.

"Aw fuck."

"He's been cheating…" Hermione added in comment, stopping just behind Draco's shoulder as he raged to cut her off.

"Mother fucking Weasley…fucking hit her!" Draco's tone was rising to exclaim his anger of the situation while he attempted to explain to Blaise, his hand gesturing to her face before he slowed, easing his gaze back to her. "Wait, what?"

"He's been cheating…" The words dangled from her parted lips, leaving the breath caught hostage at the back of her throat as Draco made an astonished huff beside her, angling to face her a bit better as Pansy gasped outright, leaning forward from her seat over the table.

"…with that slag Lavender Brown." Hermione sorrowfully let the words falter out, unable to stop the painful confessions from leaking out as she stood before the last three people she ever thought she would find it necessary to do in front of.

"Shut the front door, Granger. Merlin, you didn't catch them did you? You caught them, didn't you?" Pansy was shocked herself but far too thoroughly amused, staring in a strange wave of glances between the woman in question, Draco, and Blaise.

"Draco…" Hermione looked up at him pleadingly, moving her hand from his grip as she dropped her head to wipe the tears from drying in a horrible run of colors against her cheeks.

"Yeah, right. That's enough of this for the night."

"Are we off?" Blaise questioned his friend on many levels with both of his dark brows raised against him.

"Granger said she wants to forget so…"

"Yeah." Hermione nodded in her confirmation to his statement, resting her head in her hand as she shook her head, thankful at least that she wasn't sobbing for the moment, "I could really use a drink I think."

"Here."Blaise had practically shoved his from off the table and into her hands, Hermione jumping to toss her fingers round it and hold it in her grasp in efforts to keep the liquid from splashing in waves over the rim. "So are we off?" Blaise's hopeful face was hard to hide but Draco stood in a whirl of his own thoughts while Hermione began lifting the glass to her lips with either hand cupping it in a rather childish manor. Suddenly, Draco jutted his hand out and over to cover her glass like a lid, ignoring her cock eyed stare as he leaned in to Blaise. "Hold on, what's in this?"

"It's just a drink, Draco."

"Yes but what's in it? She said she wanted to forget her boyfriend not who she is."

"Oh this is so fucked up…" Blaise chucked at Draco's words, his earlier conversation playing along again in his head but like he'd told Draco earlier, he wanted to get blitzed and the sour mood Malfoy who was normally the Prince of Party was sitting stagnant until the goddess of Gryffindor reappeared for the night. If that was what it took for the night to begin like he'd planned, so be it. Blaise leaned forward himself, his brows raised beneath the fallen bangs of his hair at Hermione as he drawled out, "Granger, if you want to forget…drink it."

"The man that I have loved and adored for every year since I've met him just broke up with me for a twittering bimbo tonight after months of…" Hermione cut herself off, pushing Malfoy's confining hand from her glass.

"May I please go kill your boyfriend now, freckles?"

She'd long since stopped crying, the tears now just staining the normally bright complexion against her cheeks as she sighed out a glare in Malfoy's general direction. Her eyes were swollen and puffed out around the rims, a heavy shade of red that really didn't compliment that darkening mark growing ever more noticeable with the passing minutes but she still fixed Draco with quite a narrowing gaze to his comment.

"Did you not hear me, Malfoy? Ronald Weasley is not, and will never again, be my boyfriend."

Draco only smirked darkly as he drawled, "I know, I just wanted to hear you say it again."

Hermione turned her head down, chewing on her the bottom swell of her lip at the heat radiating off of Malfoy's words, unable to stop the small creeping blush from finding its way against her. It'd been driving him nearly to the point of reevaluation when she'd reappeared and he'd be kidding himself to say that to see her again wasn't exactly what he wanted but this was far from what he had in mind. This is not how he wanted to see her appearing back in his world because some coward had a temper tantrum, just as he'd feared and predicted. This is not the way he wanted to win, if that was what you called this…even if he had no idea what he was fighting for or how he'd even entered the fight.

Hermione gave out a hard sigh and moved the glass to her lips without a second thought, tipping her head back and downing the contents in a few hard swallows, Draco's pristine posture straightening beside her with his unwavering glance as she tossed Blaise's concoction down.

"You understand that I want to tear him limb from limb, yes, freckles?"

"Yes…I know, Malfoy." She was sucking a single side of her bottom lip into her mouth, her tongue trailing on the remainder of liquid while she settled the glass to the table now at the thought, her shoulders seeming to tip in together just a little bit more.

"Well then, good thing for Weasley that he's not here." Blaise smiled broadly to Hermione with her calmly questionable face turning to face him fully, moving her sights away from Draco and back to the empty glass before her as felt the liquid swim in against her senses.

"Lavender Brown…" Blaise mulled the thought of the girl over in his mind. She was something of a thick girl if he recalled correctly, overly loud and a bit dull in the brain. She was one of those girls who had to spout out things about fashion, gossip, the latest trends because it was the only useless information their minds could process. The thought shuddered him a bit, a small grimace to his face, "I'm sorry, Granger. I thought when you cheat you were supposed to upgrade, no?" chucking a bit to himself as he finished.

"Well I think that's a great cue to blow this joint. Let's get the fuck out of here." Pansy's shortly chopped strands swung loose from behind her ears as she rose to her feet, linking her arm in around Blaise's with her eyes sliding up to the blonde before her. "Two Below? Illy's?" Pansy tossed out a few choice locations, questioning without pretense as Hermione moved her hand to wrap gracefully against Malfoy's elbow.

She could hear the two of them discussing the matter, feeling the tension in Malfoy's muscles beneath her fingertips but her own anxiety was slowly leaking from her in a slip of her reality. Her lids lowered heavily, closing her eyes and drawing in a slow breath as the music dwelled in against her ears.

_One pill makes you larger _

_And one pill makes you small_

Dark lashes slowed open, taking in the melting edges of the objects around her, the bleeding colors slurring inside of her sight as she attempted to lift it up against the man standing tall against her, turning his head to angle towards her with a quirking stare at her obviously hindering state. Her shoulders fell slack, her muscles calm and loose, leaving her words dragging off her tongue as she spoke to him in the grace of her haze.

_The ones that mother gives you _

_Don't do anything at all_

"What the hell was in that drink?"

_Go ask Alice. I think she'll know._

* * *

><p><strong>*As promised, Chap 5! Don't worry, the party is far from over for our pals and I can assure you that Hermione is done being Ron's whipping post! BUT It is certainly not the last of him. Don't worry, I won't be too cruel for all you Ron lovers out there. <strong>

**XD I desperately need to go back and revise these chapters but I've been pumped to get it all down first so bare with me please. I'll go back eventually.**

**Fair warning, next couple chapters have a lot of drug use, drinking, language, sex, and etc so beware. Muhaha.**


	6. Chap 6

The room fell dark around her as her lids fell low, dampening her usual senses and blacking out the scene of judging eyed housemates and schoolmates alike, leaving Hermione unable to await Malfoy's answer as her lashes fluttered closed. The clanking glasses and chattering noise began falling deaf on her sore ears as the tiny hairs against the back of her neck began to twitch in anticipation to the drifting music swelling against her. She wasn't aware of the soft sway she felt lightly drifting her on her feet to the melody slipping into her veins and pumping its way through her body with the effects of Blaise's drink, but she teetered none the less. Her frantic thoughts slid away from her as the bitter pain in her heart slowed against the thumping bass in the music. Just as she had asked…Hermione was beginning to forget Ron even had a name just as she too was beginning to forget everything and anything at all.

Hermione was loosely latching her arm around Draco's as he stared down at her with a bit of an alarmed expression, holding her steady as she swayed lightly on her heels. Heavily grey tinted hues narrowed in against themselves as he whipped his head up to Blaise, daring a step closer, still holding up the dazing girl on his arm, with a growling tone biting out in the echo of music that filled the bar as he warned his friend with a single use of surname, "Zabini…"

Both Blaise and Pansy stood there taking in the normally so pristine girl in front of them with a detached amusement, sighing heavily as her breath raised her chest high before dropping it low in deflation with a part of her plush lips. For a moment, Blaise only smirked, standing with a cold twist on his lips before he moved his head to the table, quirking a brow as he glanced over the various glasses, tapping his finger a crossed the rims, contemplating, or giving his best effort to before he offered Malfoy a small flick of his head. Midnight black tendrils slid before Blaise's dark hues as he gave a small shake of his head, offering nothing more than a mild shrug as he parted his lips with justification, "Seriously, Malfoy…I thought it was just liquor."

Draco did not look nearly as amused as Blaise did and even Pansy had to stifle a laugh at Draco's sudden concern as she moved her hand to swat Blaise in the center of his chest, her voice barely above a truthful worry, "Fucking liar."

"Zabini!"

"Ok, ok…obviously I gave her the wrong cup. She did say she wanted to forget however…" Blaise wasn't truly trying to rationalize the supposed mistake while he mocked a tint of concern to grace a crossed his heavily shadowed features but Draco still glared at him lowly, shaking his head with a look of disbelief before he surrendered his attention to the unintentionally drugged girl beside him.

"Hermione…"

She could hear her name in the echoing sounds in her head, swimming slowly, drawling inside of her ears as she easily allowed her eyes to drift open to the room. A smile drifted softly at the corners of her mouth, the pale hand drifting through the darkness with an eerie lightness about it as it neared her. She felt her head tilt, watching the hand trail fingers and motions behind it, smoothing over her lace encrusted bicep with an eerie warmth.

"Damnit, Zamibi!" Draco was shouting over his shoulder, clutching Hermione's arms as he leaned his face down from his height to study her in her hazing and lost abyss. "You just got Granger bleeding tweeked out of her gourd." He may have been scolding Blaise but his attention was fully engulfed against the wild locked brunette loosely staring at him beneath his grasp.

_If you go chasing rabbits _

_And you know you're going to fall_

"You ok in there, freckles?" It was Draco. That sloppy smile was still plastered along her face as she lifted it up fully to stare up at him with a rather lazy feline grace about her, letting her lips part open to flash him a light grin in her response despite her still physically battered state. The music was still swelling around her, filling her and sliding straight back out through her pores as she stood before the tall blonde, lifting her fingertips of a single hand to brush along the bend of his cheekbone with a nod.

Draco seemed startled at her slow reaction, flinching as she studied her own movements with her eyes, his own locked against her, his face set firm. His skin felt like satin underneath her numbing fingertips, shivering beneath his stare, breathing into the drugs filling her system and begging her to surrender. Hermione wasn't sure at the moment if it was the drugs or the man before her that she was supposed to give in to but she sure could feel her white flag rising.

_Tell them a hookah smoking caterpillar _

_Has given you the call _

She drew her breaths in slowly and deliberately as she solidly moved her head round to take in the flickering twilight of the room around them with fresh eyes. Hermione's dark hues watched carefully as the lights twisted into swirling patterns against the floor, climbing eloquently up the legs of the people swirling in motion and filling blurs along the floor circling before them. She hadn't remembered such beautiful lights a minute ago…she hadn't remembered the sparking green flashes shooting through over the ceiling or the vibrant shades encrusting every inch of space she could feast her sight on. For the second time in the night, everything had changed drastically before Hermione but unlike the first train wreck of time, she was enjoying the vacant thoughts filling her entirely and allowing her to escape exactly what she needed to at the present moment.

"Hermione…You alright?" Draco was questioning her again. She'd forgotten about her hand on his face, well, quite frankly she'd forgotten about her hands entirely as she turned her head back to focus her large pupils in against his frantic stare, breathing out as she leaned forward, cupping the dramatic curve of his jaw on her way.

"You hear that bass, Malfoy?"

Draco said nothing. He simply watched her carefully, his hands tightening against her arms when she tilted in against him, holding her steady and within proper breathing distance for his own taste in such a public jamboree. She was far too fucked up and she was far too close for the circumstances, even for Draco's love for scenes, but he cocked his head to the question none the less, his face scrunching with the evident confusion coating around him, "Yeah? What about it, Granger?"

Hermione's lips only curled once again while she drug herself a step closer to him, moving to square herself a few inches before his chest. She could feel him swallow hard when she pressed up against her toes to lean forward, nearly threatening to touch him further than the hand gingerly lying along his cheek when she lowered her mouth a hair spread away from the crescent shell of his ear as she whispered out, "That's how my body feels."

_When the men on the chest board _

_get up and tell you where to go _

The warmth of her words slid all too lightly over his skin, his hands unintentionally tightening against her arms as she captured his breath hostage, trapping it behind the press of his tongue along the back of his teeth to keep him from reacting the way any warm blooded male would react.

_and you'd just had some kind of mushroom _

_and your mind is moving low_

She was the one tripping out of her natural born mind but Draco was the one looking like a deer in her headlights as Hermione slid her slender arms down against his chest, her hands trailing from his face, down the curve of his shoulders to the broad surface of his chest as she lowered down from her tip toes. Draco couldn't explain the look she was granting him but she honestly seemed unusually content, all things considered. Her hands where resting on the bend on his elbows now, the small space of inches between them as she let her grin sweep a crossed her before she slurred her words out to him to pull him from his careful deliberations.

"Take me where you want to go, Malfoy."

It took a bit of energy, but he managed to force down the groan he was ready to emit as he slid his hand down the back dip of her hip bones to wrap around her entirely, closing her in the distance to slide her in against him. Wobbling on narcotics, strapped up in heels, she still easily maneuvered her weight to lean against him, her chest rising slow against his own. Sobbing mess or not…Hermione Granger was still a woman. Still a woman who was barely dressed in a cling of lace and pressing her body into him willingly, no matter that it was the very woman he was sure he was going to become committed over, as he attempted to bend to her whims.

Draco craned his neck to angle around to Pansy and Blaise, cocking a single blonde brow high as he shrugged out, "Top of Tao?" Draco's usual drawl seemed a bit weak even for him as he questioned the idea to both Blaise and Pansy alike. The normal scowl on his face was washed clean but his features still clenched in against themselves tightly. Half drunk or not, Draco was clearly attempting to appear composed with the somber looking Granger holding tightly against him while she seemed to enjoy the affects of Blaise's drink ringing through her. Pansy was quick to thrust her hand into the air, shouting out in her personal opinion and exclamation to Draco's choice location, "Yes! Lets take her to Tao!"

Blaise's chuckle was low, shaking his head all too unconvinced that Pansy truly cared whether or not Granger was entertained or not through the night but he two nodded to Draco with a small shrug of ambivalence. Whether Pansy honestly gave a damn or not, Hermione did clearly seem to enjoy herself quite thoroughly, laughing softly at nothing and everything at all as she tipped her head forward to Draco's waiting shoulder.

Hermione, indeed, had found her footing enough to enjoy her stupor in the moment and whether she was conveying it properly or not, she was thankful. For months she'd allowed Ron to beat down her self confidence and for months she'd cried over her every fault. She'd allowed herself to be shrunken down to this tiny, insignificant being for far too long in that suffocating relationship but for weeks she'd bit her tongue till near blood with the fear that eventually one of them would have enough. As it turns out, Hermione had quite obviously had enough but apparently, however, Ron had already seen the light almost half a year prior and just never let her in on the secret. For just as many months as her heartache grew, Hermione knew she'd also allowed her brain to run wild over the man laughing and pulling her in to him as he moved to turn around with her clutched in against him. She'd fallen victim in the last twenty four hours to his unnatural, easy demeanor and found herself swimming with the anticipation that, like Ron, she was only putting herself in over her head and simply blinded with her own confusion at the moment.

Slowly, she'd been making her way downhill in that so called relationship for some time. Hermione had found herself walking so carefully plotted in the beginning but somehow she'd forced herself to run, tripped repeatedly over herself and found herself tumbling harder and harder, faster and faster until she finally came crashing to a halt at the bottom. Funny thing was the only thing bracing the fall months in the making was Malfoy. She'd wanted to run for her life tonight and he'd stopped her and just as she begged for his help once again, she only found him bowing his graces to her to give her exactly as she asked.

She'd asked him to forget. It seemed simple enough but such things never were. She'd never suspected when she'd requested such a thing that he would have found a way to give it to her so easily and so quickly. As of right now, Hermione was finding her woes so tedious in such a beautiful environment. The wounds, scrapes, and scars seemed meaningless and lost in her new sight, and the battered emotions and exhausted muscles felt oblivious to their haggard damage. Her brain was slurring away the worried thoughts of Ron, the gawking, gossiping stares surrounding them, and the questioning of the man before her while she slipped her eyes closed, folding her head back into his neck to await the impact of apparation. Wherever he was taking them was fine…as long as she didn't have to remember.

Hermione was so light in Draco's grasp with the scent of her hair swiftly making its way to his nose as she breathed in against the small exposed patch of skin against his neck where she draped in along his chest. His eyes were soft over her, his own alcohol infused sight leaving his smile ever serene when he lifted his gaze up with a brow snapping awareness as he locked eyes with the wide emerald stare of none other than Potter. True, Draco hadn't quite forgotten where exactly he was standing but he could admit that he had been distracted enough by the woman pressing along him that he'd almost been caught by surprise when Potter moved the stand rapidly up from his bar stool with the she weasel quickly climbing to trap herself along his arm with that same look of alarm sweeping them entirely.

Ginny Weasley had her hands wrapped firmly against Potter's single arm, standing side by side a crossed the room with their sights locked against their normally reserved friend clutching Draco's neck without the prejudice they so seemed to be leaking with. Much to Draco's surprise, the pair only stood and stared in their shock as Potter moved to slide the bridge of his glasses up the bend of his nose, his mouth in a silent part in the alarm befalling him.

For a brief moment, Draco rationalized that one of two things could happen here as he kept his arm wrapped along Hermione's petite frame. Potter could make a move, come to Hermione's "rescue", and storm the scene or he could simply watch much like Draco was sure he had the entirety of Granger's violent turning relationship. Blaise and Pansy snapped from the scene with a loud crack, the tell tale noise nearly lost in the blaring sound around them but Draco was more than aware of their departure as it snapped him from his debating on the man standing off with him through the crowded room. With the battle lines being drawn in the sand, Draco raised either brow in the distant challenge, his smirk slipping a dangerous tug against the corner of his mouth while he watched the pair fight the urge to choose their option carefully.

Hermione's touch was ever light along his arms as she raised them once again to encircle his neck, tipping her chin upwards and towards his far off sights. Draco moved his hues down against her, oblivious to the staring pair, that smirk never wavering while it nearly cemented against his lips at the sight of the small pout pressing her own bottom tier out from its hold. With the third member of the golden trio wrapped in beneath his arm, he chuckled low at her impatience to leave, tearing his grin away from her momentarily to offer the watching pair nothing but a deliberate wink of a single cerulean eye before he tore them from their sights entirely with a familiar, echoing crack smoldering heavy smoke round in their absence. Perhaps Potter hadn't intended to choose the latter of options that Draco had anticipated but his time had certainly run out to act otherwise.

* * *

><p>Blaise was already moving into the open room, moving his way down the marble tiles leading through the vast expanse of the club when Malfoy popped them into the scene with ease. Hermione let out a small gasp, the air sucking out of her chest as they adjusted to the new surroundings loosely clad in each other arms. Blaise held his arm bent before his waist in quite the diplomatic gesture to Pansy as she moved to drape herself over it, holding her posture high. The tall raven haired man moved so gracefully with the slender woman on his arm, sliding through the moving swarms of people like a shadow in front her while she attempted to follow beneath Malfoy's hold.<p>

Hazy sights opened into the glow around her and she'd nearly jumped straight into Draco's arms when she'd lifted her eyes up to face the humungous large stone statue of some meditating man with sparkling water pouring out from its top and over the rocks that spilled out of his fountain base. The polished tribute stood a good three stories tall, loaming high above them smack dab in the center of the room and it was all Hermione could do but shoot her hand out to snap a grasping hold along Draco's arm for support, laughing so hard she had to tilt over and clutch her stomach to her own reactions to the startling beast of a structure. Draco's own laughter was light in her ears when he slid his arm a crossed her shoulders, feeling him drift her off from her gawking and into the flashing nights of the scene surrounding her.

Her visually impaired eyes did their best to take it all in as the scene flashed by her in a glow of neon lights like a broken movie reel. Vibrant purples and sapphire blues whizzed by her, Draco's hand tight along her hip as she allowed her weight to lean against him in their slow stride, her head lulling to his shoulder with the slow smile gluing softly to her lips. Everything sparkled before her, the music dwelling around them as Hermione drug her hand out along the walls, staring in fascination as it dripped from her fingers like liquid gold, trailing to the floor around them. She had absolutely no idea if it was the drug, the alcohol, or simply the charms of the place that had the wet glitter she'd just freed engulfing the swirling bodies of the figures twirling around the platform they were scraping behind but she certainly loved it either way.

There were so many bodies! People trapped together around them on the bamboo encrusted floor space, her dazing sights lulling to glance over the large pools of water lining the walls, cluttered with deep crimson petals swimming over top the lavishly colored coy mulling around the waters beneath them as they passed, continuing through to wherever they were following Blaise and Pansy to. Hermione's dark eyes were still lost over her shoulder as Draco rounded on her, his hands so ever light along her either hip bone that she had to slur her head back around to accommodate his beckoning touch.

"You got this, freckles?"

It was a simple enough question but it took her a good amount of time of pondering before she could nod her head honestly, laughing as she ran her fingers over top of the crinkle in his forehead, "Do _you _got this, Malfoy?" She was far too amused by his concern etched into his expressions even as he only frowned further at her answer but the bright noise of Pansy's voice snatched him from his irritation for a moment as she popped round with Blaise numbly carrying a few glasses in his hand.

"Malfoy, she's obviously a big girl or she wouldn't be in the snake pin."

Blaise's voice was much lower than Pansy's as he approached behind her, never far off it seemed from the unnecessarily guarded girl, his tone deeply infused with the masses of alcohol that he'd already managed to down and still stay standing under. "Pansy is going to go…" His bland glance inched tighter in his moment of pause, shrugging his brows before he continued on, "…fix, Granger."

"Fix?" Hermione slid her arms down at her sides, moving to take a small, carefully plotted step backwards before sliding to angle round to tilt her head against the slender brunette who was already reaching down the snatch her wrist and give it a good tug forward.

Draco moved to step closer himself with his own brow inching up but Pansy waved him off dismissively, pulling Hermione to her still until she was properly before her and out of Malfoy's ever protective clutches. "Let's go fix your face, Granger." Hermione's tilted head teetered to slide to the other side much like a light switch, her eyes widening with a rather amused grin even as Pansy pointed between their two escorts of the evening. "Make yourselves useful, huh?"

Hermione had missed the cluck of Draco's tongue as he scoffed at Pansy's snotty superiority sounding out as she whisked Hermione off into the crowd.

"You ever been to a night club in the wizarding world, Granger?" The short haired brunette in front of her was questioning her idly as she stalked them through the small trail of path; her thinly arched brows arched high beneath the short, dark fringe of her bangs. Hermione shook her head, the length of her curls bouncing to slip from her shoulders as she scurried her steps on the end of Pansy's hand to follow closely behind her but Pansy only continuously tossed her head back and forth over her shoulder, trying to hear if she'd actually given her a response.

"No, not like this!" Hermione shouted over the music but Pansy was far too busy now moving into the nearly gold dripping room that was the woman's lavatory and finding her way around the back to the large counter of mirrors and sinks. Hermione slid her fingers slowly from Pansy's as they both rounded the long marble surface, dropping her hands to the counter and cocking her head forward into the mirror to take in, for the first time, her own haggard appearance but Pansy only laughed as she too leaned her hips in against the counter, her hand bracing her weight as she ran a single finger to smooth out the lines of her own eye shadow.

"Damn, Granger! You're like the ultimate virgin."

Truthfully, Hermione felt half drunk standing there, holding her weight up and running her hand cautiously over the large, swollen mark so boldly staring back at her but the wobbling sensation her eyes were giving back to her was about just as much dizzying distraction as she needed to mentally toss her hands in the air and say fuck it.

"I love this place." Pansy commented again, cocking her head to Hermione as she onced over herself weakly. It was an odd thing still, to hear Pansy Parkinson say that she loved anything, but it surely didn't seem to bother her as she swayed along with the beats of the music muffling in through the room.

"What did he give me?" The words fell out of her mouth casually, turning away from the reminder of the sober hours and pressing the back of her hips to the counter while she tilted her hazy vision against the girl beside her but she was moving with a shrug before her body, motioning up with her finger.

"I mean Blaise…" Hermione tried to reiterate her question but Pansy still only motioned up and Hermione could only give in to her by placing her hands flat against the counter and pressing her body up to slide backwards in a seat in front of Pansy who was already reaching up and brushing the wayward strands of hair from her scrutinizing glance.

Pansy once again offered Hermione a numb shrug, straightening her back as she so casually brushed Hermione's knees a part to step between, moving her hand to tip her chin up as she scrunched her features together in thought over where to begin before she'd actually offered her a verbal response.

"I don't have the potion derivatives for you, Granger, but basically I'm pretty sure you're feeling one hell of an altered sense of time and reality right now." Even the once pug faced girl, so normally sneering, had to grin as she gave her wand a dab, working her magic through her own far too open eyed visuals thanks to the amount of alcohol she'd already ingested. Hermione could definitely say she felt as though she was out of her own normal reality, Pansy was right about that, because the girl that she was so accustomed to seeing draped on the man who'd whisked her away tonight was currently still pressed between Hermione's thighs, blasting small cool jets of air against pinpoint spots along the curves of Hermione's haggard appearance, attempting to right the makeup that had been bled along her complexion. Still, as off and odd as the whole thing should have felt, Hermione simply let her head sway softly from either side to side, staring at the ceiling with a half cocked smile loose on the side of her mouth, dangling her legs where they bent over top the counter.

"I just can't believe he actually gave it to you!" Pansy laughed hard, shaking her head and placing her hands against the counter as she leaned back to admire her handiwork.

"I thought…I thought he told Malfoy he didn't know he did it."

"You heard that? _Shit_, Granger, come on…" Pansy didn't look as embarrassed as Hermione thought she would at the statement. She simply shook her head as she tilted her chin to angle her eyes down to the Gryffindor glancing at her through the lift of her brows. "I guess you can handle drugs better than I thought." Hermione's finger lifted to her lips as she narrowed her eyebrows in against themselves, shushing Pansy's verbal use of the words drugs as a passing girl nearly stopped in her tracks at the sight of them with a rather wide eyed gawk on her face.

"He knew…just like Draco knows Blaise was lying. You did say you wanted to forget." Pansy lifted both of her hands out in earnest at her sides and addressed herself with the title like it was the most insane thing in the world to forget, "Hello, SLYTHERIN'S." Hermione offered Pansy a rather tossed expression before glancing back to the girl standing awkwardly, still staring, as she fidgeted on her feet like a moth trapped in the flame. It took a moment for Pansy to register what it was the Gryffindor was diverting her attention to but as if on cue to demonstrate the statement she'd just made, whether she'd meant to or not, Pansy turned her head over her shoulder to the innocent bystander caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and quickly advanced with a narrowing growl against her. Hermione barely had time to react as Pansy demanded from the girl to tell her just what exactly she was gaping over before crudely shoving her hands against the girl's chest to push her hard a good few feet from their vicinity, telling her to shove off.

With Hermione's wide chocolate hues, and the girl scrambling backwards, Pansy turned on her heel and moved quickly back to her former position at the sink without a second thought, shrugging her shoulder and the irritation like it'd never occurred as she tossed back to Hermione, "So anyways, want to handle some more?" Pansy Parkinson was insane…and for the moment, Hermione was grateful to be on her good graces. She could barely take her eyes off of the girl who couldn't stop glancing over her shoulder as she bolted from the bathroom, her eyes swollen with the threat of tears thanks to the girl so casually addressing her as she moved back to stand before her, completely unconcerned with the act.

"Will it keep you acting like this?" Hermione waved her hand sloppily in front of Pansy's face that was a bit too close to her as she leaned back into the counter with a frown, trying to smooth out Hermione's newly reapplied eye shadow on a particular corner of her eye before she raised a brow up to her, tilting her head only momentarily before moving back to her task.

"What? Acting nice to you?"

"Yes."

Pansy settled her hands down to the small bend of her waist watching Hermione's loose smile, still bright on her face, holding true as she moved to slip forward from her seated rest on the counter, turning her body into her own inspection at her reflection taking up in the mirror as she awaited her response but Pansy, despite her eyeing of Granger's reactions to her newly applied makeup, was too busy moving to toss her purse onto the vacant space of counter beside them so she could search it idly.

"I'm not being nice to you because I'm on drugs, Granger." Pansy tilted her head at the statement she'd just made, her thin lips pursing before she shook it off completely, her grin striding up truly as she pulled the long, thinly rolled stick from the deep confines of her satin clutch. Hermione was watching Pansy questionably while she settled it between her glossed tiers, pulling her wand free to tap the end to spark before her eyes, barely taking the time to huff out the flames before she tossed her wand right back where she'd tugged it free from and moved to lean a crossed Hermione's shoulder as she stared at the woman standing behind her through the glass.

"I mean, I don't hate you." Pansy stated it simply but Hermione had just watched her toss a girl out of the loo in tears for staring too long so truthfully, the statement didn't really make her feel any relief but Pansy continued regardless, "Draco…well, you amuse Draco and I guess currently you're pretty entertaining for me as well. You're…not who I expected you to be?"

Hermione had to laugh as she tilted her head over her shoulder to look at Pansy as she drew a sharp breath inward, dragging the heavy silver smoke down into her lungs and sending the embers burning to scorch back the paper before she nearly shoved the smoking thing before Hermione's face to rid her of it while she puffed her cheeks in a pathetic attempt not to cough. The sweet, unusual smell of whatever Pansy had rolled and lit up, was wafting in against her nostrils even before Hermione had plucked it free of her fingers, eyeing it carefully as Pansy too eyed her with a lift of each slender arched brows but all Hermione could offer her was a small shrug of a single shoulder as she tossed out, "He wasn't who I expected him to be. Expectations are funny like that."

She could have been referring to Draco, Pansy was sure, considering the fact that he'd practically bent over backwards to whisk her away tonight but she had a sinking feeling Granger was making comment more towards the red head she slinked around arm in arm with all these years. Hermione lifted the joint to her mouth and drew in a slow, deliberate breath while she angled to face the mirror, moving her body up once again to marvel at her complete overhaul of her formally battered face while she pursed her lips off to the side the exhale a long line of smoke to waft eerily into the room.

"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…" Hermione trailed off, running her fingertips over the formally swollen cheekbone smoothed down to its original size and shape, dusted in a tint of shimmering bronze. Hermione had accomplished to wave off the dreadful thoughts that harmed her tonight and she was thankfully now able to slip into her dreamy, hazy state and semi clouded thoughts but now, thanks to Pansy's handiwork, Hermione now looked as if the fight had simply never happened. Her cheek had reduced to its normal size, the bitter bruise blended back to the shade of her flesh, and her makeup back in the places it was originally prepared to go. Hazelnut speckled hues lifted against the dark gaze of the girl beside her in the reflective glass, nodding firmly, still half in awe at Parkinson's obvious skills.

"That was pretty low, even for Weasley." Pansy leaned forward to free the thinly rolled paper from Hermione's fingers, moving to take a drag herself as Hermione laughed honestly, cocking her head in the mirror to acknowledge the raven haired girl behind her better, "Which part? The him shagging some bint behind my back part or the part where he's been _portraying_ himself to be an abusive, piece of filth to get me to leave because he said he had no other way out?"

Truthfully, Hermione had never been a girl for gossip, and despite her love to help her friends, and her many former trips to aid their crying eyes in a girls lavatory before, she really had never spent much time in one being comforted herself, not to mention in such a lavish one inside some nightclub in the middle of the night, but that was exactly what was happening. She knew her sense of time had to be off because it felt like they'd already been in there for hours and she was starting to wonder if Draco and Blaise would start thinking Pansy killed her in there but Pansy talked to her none the less, smoking from the long joint she'd rolled without care of consequence, passing it back to Hermione as she folded her arms over her chest.

"He actually said that?" Pansy's thin lips had curled back a crossed the rows of her teeth, her words hissing out a blaze of smoke, much more involved then she had originally intended to be in the conversation, let alone situation, as she hung onto Hermione's every word. Even she was at a loss for words herself however as Hermione nodded her head with an affirmative nod, watching as Pansy shook her head in the shock of it, scoffing while she huffed the remainder of thin smoke through her nostrils.

"Didn't Draco shag like…half of Ravenclaw when you dated him?" A year ago, Hermione could have seen that same sentence coming out of her mouth as she stomped her foot and shouted down a corridor but as it stood, in such a different splay of sound and image, Hermione only moved to take the half smoked stick as she turned to address her, face to face, as she sharply inhaled the burning embers to swell down her chest.

"No." Pansy's statement wasn't as curt and irritable as Hermione had expected it to be as she lifted her single finger in the air as if to add to the dismissal before she pointed it at Hermione's chest, "And he would have never hit me."

"I didn't mean it like…"

"No, it's cool, but don't compare him to Weasley." Hermione found it odd that Pansy wasn't upset that Hermione had questioned their former relationship but that instead, she found it necessary to defend Draco's character. "Draco and I only dated, really, for about six months."

"Liar!" Hermione's voice was a bit to high even for herself and she had to laugh as she clasped her own hand over her mouth, shaking her head as she continued in a more suitable tone, "No way, Parkinson. You two have been locked on each other for years!" Pansy lightly shoved Hermione's shoulder with a small narrow against her dark eyes but she didn't seem too bothered as she motioned with a single hand to take the joint.

"Like I said we only dated for about six months and then it got weird."

"Why?" Hermione had gladly handed the nearly smoked out roach to Pansy as she folded her arms over her chest, quirking a brow and leaning her weight against a single side of her leg as she jutted her hip out in disbelief to the statement.

Pansy looked less than thrilled, stoned or not as Granger nearly called her bluff on her every word about the matter, "Because Draco and I are really good friends and…"

"You and Blaise are really good friends, so what?"

"Yeah well…" Pansy drew her eyes away at the mention of the tall, dark man that was always shadowing beside Draco and herself, moving the take a few short drags from what was left of the joint before she snuffed it coldly down against the stone basin of the sink as Hermione gasped, clapping her hands down against the rim of it behind her.

"Oh! It's because you want Zabini?"

"No! No, I think it's the other way around there…it's complicated." The words were splaying so many emotions around the normally sneering face that Hermione couldn't quite tell which one to pick out and question as she narrowed her gaze on the girl next to her.

"No one would put on such a big display unless they had something really big…I mean Draco has_ never_ denied that you two were together that whole time."

"Granger, I'm gay."

"Seriously no one would go through years of…" She was obviously stoned, weighing the thoughts of Pansy and Draco through the years on either hand, quite literally, so animatedly that she'd completely brushed over Pansy's confession but Pansy still tried once again as she raised her voice, waving a hand before her laughing expressions.

"Hello! Granger! I like girls."

Hermione only stood there, her face still locked on her ranting gaze before it washed over her, drawing her chin back to eye Pansy like the statement simply couldn't be true as she stated and questioned all at the same time, "No…No?" Pansy only laughed with a bit of an awkward grin on her face as she shrugged her hands into the air before dropping them at her sides.

"Expectations and all."

"Shut the fuck up, Parkinson!" Hermione was laughing hard, completely at a loss for what she'd just confessed to her in the middle of a bathroom, stoned, and half drugged. Never in her wildest ideas would she have thought that Draco and Pansy's over the top displays of an obnoxiously clingy relationship was some drastic cover for the fact that she was in fact, playing the same field that he was. It literally, was the last thing that Hermione ever thought she'd hear leave Pansy's lips but it was the first thing that Hermione realized she'd ever really been available to hear Pansy say. The two of them laughed and gossiped in the haze of the smoke surrounding them for a time that Hermione was surely unaware of but despite who was allowing her this moment of release, she was thankful once again.

By the time the two of them had shut their mouths enough to decide they should probably fill them with some more alcohol, they nearly had to hang on to each other to avoid the wobbling sensation coursing through them. Pansy had Hermione's fingers laced in between her own by the time they'd stumbled clear of the bathroom door, both turning around defensively only to find nothing but the empty wall behind them. Hermione dropped Pansy's slender grip when the two of them turned their heads to look at each other in their disappointment of proper justification only to laugh hard and outright at the similar look flashing between them. If Hermione had known better, she'd say that in that moment, the Slytherin girl who was turning with her and tossing her arm a crossed her waist while they traipsed on into the crowd, looked just about as close to her as she'd ever truly felt with Ginny and in her hopeful haze of forgetting, she was more than willing to allow Pansy's strange and out of character hints of friendship, false or not, carry her on in her seamless night.

Honestly, the two of them had been off in the loo for no more than a good twenty minutes or so but even Blaise had to chuckle low at the sight of them hanging against each other, strangely opposite in attire, laughing as they made their way back through the crowded hall. Pansy had practically been dragging the Gryffindor just moments prior and now, with their refreshed images, and half hazed eyes, they seemed the best of mates but Draco seemed to ignore the foreign sight completely as he stood upright at the mere sight of them flashing in his vision. Blaise was far more eased in his rising upright, lowering his feet to the ground and stretching his length up as he cradled his glass loosely in his fingers.

The corner of Draco's mouth twitched to tug against that trademark smirk of his as Grangers lulled her head around to Pansy, off in their conversation even as they moved to stand before the two men awaiting their arrival without so much as batting them an eye. Blaise motioned numbly to Pansy with the drink in his hand, allowing her to take it thankfully before he bent to retract another into his touch. Just as easily, Blaise moved to hand it out to Hermione, his smile soft on his lips but it was Hermione's raising brow that had Draco smiling to himself as she tossed her hand up in motion to halt the drink before it reached her.

"You go ahead and keep that one, Zabini. I'm still learning to walk again over here." The normally blunt and callous toned Granger was far more animated and light as she waved her hand to brush it away.

"Come on now, Granger…" Blaise's drawl still bordered against the hint of a chuckle as Pansy moved to switch her glass into Hermione's hand, taking the other resting in Blaise's for herself before she offered everyone a satisfied wink, rewarding herself in a good draining of its contents as Blaise continued on.

"I meant no harm, love. Honestly, you needed the wobble." Blaise had offered her a mild shrug, rather unconcerned with Draco's watchful eye reading over his words and motions all too closely but it seemed the energy that had bounced its way along the formerly sobbing girl before him had still yet to teeter as she returned her features to him with a shake of her head, a light smile on her own lips, "I did need the wooble."

The soft amber glow was beginning to find its way back into Granger's face, Pansy's former drink in her hand as she moved to clank it in against the brunette's empty glass, offering Blaise and Draco alike a single lidded wink one more time as she too moved to drain back her drink.

The platinum blonde rushed his own liquor back, tapping the lowered rim of his glass to Blaise as he shook his head, feeling the liquor burn down his chest, peering up in the squint of his hues as the alcohol eased into his senses, all too ready to reprimand the man in his sights again for half drugging the girl he'd asked out for all intensive purposes but Granger had managed to slip her way out of Pansy's hold and moved to grasp hold of his forearm, lightly slinking her arm into his own and succeeding it stifling his scolding. The simple motion seemed to take hold of Draco's attention quite quickly as he angled to face her, cocking his head at the strange half furrowed and half raised expressions of the woman staring back at him, teetering in the slightest on the weight she rested down on her heels.

"You alright?" Her words too were a bit wobbly but she had every ounce on concern still laced against them as she too eyed him oddly with a tilt of her own head and her arm still loose in his own.

"I'm good, Granger." He stated it numbly, leaving his face blank with an eerie calmness behind the heavily shadowed grey hues but it only made Hermione frown further. He seemed so tense, so…well, Malfoy like. Hermione felt silly for even thinking that way but it seemed that there were two very distinct sides of the man standing tall before her. There was Draco, the man who'd strived for nothing more than being seen as himself and then there was Malfoy, the mask he'd perfected all too well for so many years that be pulled out as his Sunday best. Call her crazy but she was starting to see the faint outline of that disguise suiting up around him but she didn't have much time to decipher what exactly had him feeling the need to armor himself among his own friends.

Hermione's arm slowly slid from Draco's at that thought. If it wasn't his friends then it had to be her, right? Hermione pressed her newly glossed tiers together softly, feeling the slick surface as they parted at her sigh. It was Draco's turn to frown now as his hand reached forward rather quickly to grasp her retreating limb but his efforts went unfulfilled as the waitress dressed in quite a long, nearly sheer, flowing white dress, moved between Hermione and himself to promptly hand forward a bottle of champagne.

"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Battydorf sends his best wishes." The waitress smiled politely even as Draco stared at her a bit annoyed before he gave a dim sigh and reached forward to take the bottle from her hand, his opposite dipping inside his jacket pocket to pluck free a few bills tucked inside. He handed the bottle to Blaise and the tip to the woman in one swift motion, lifting his pale brows as he moved around the space she stood to round the side of Hermione once again.

"This is what I'm talking about." Hermione's nose scrunched as she pointed her finger dangerously close to the center of his face as she continued, "You're being so…irritable." Draco crossed his arms, his brows raised as she moved to mock him and fold her own along the gentle swell of her chest.

There were so many people buzzing around, running up to say hello so Draco, to say hi to Hermione, Pansy, and Blaise alike already, and they'd nearly been there for less than an hour. Hell, Hermione had barely been out of the bathroom for more than ten minutes! She was already quite drunk and obviously a bit fucked on something and she was standing there, draping herself loose on his arm, not that he was complaining but they stood in the Mecca of reunions it seemed and that was a very unsettling thought in his brain. He was irritable, yes. He was quite irritable actually but it was seemly for the fact that he'd actually attempted to make the right judgment call to help her night be eased and it seemed he was busy fearing she'd pay the consequences far worse for it all in the morning. Draco sighed once again, watching Hermione eye him even as she took a long fluted glass of champagne from Pansy, angling back to face him once again as she set it to her lips, tipping it up, staring him down all the while.

Draco inched his head forward a decimal as he lowered his voice to her, "Why don't we find some place a bit quieter, what do you say, freckles?" The sweet, light airiness of the liquid slid down her throat, feeling the warmth of it and Draco's much more soothing words trailing over her skin. Was that what this was all about? He was irritated with the crowd?

"Malfoy!" And just as Hermione was beginning to question Draco's attitude, Theodore Nott's slurring speech booming loudly as he stumbled his way to the lot of him had completely solidified her thoughts. Draco's jaw tensed as he straightened his posture, glaring his path of sight against the man wavering in his motions while he closed in. He was about the tenth person from Hogwarts alone that they'd run into already or spotted, most who were friends with Malfoy and thinking nothing of any of them missing Harry's bash, but he had to be the twentieth person in general to come sauntering up with the chance to grace up to Malfoy in general and it was obviously taking a toll on the normally so sociable snob of a man she stood with. For someone who claimed to be so out casted, Draco certainly had far too many people nearly jumping at the chance to get close to him.

Theodore clasped a hand down against Malfoy's shoulder, Hermione flinching at the tension forming quickly against Malfoy's face as Nott moved his opposite on to Blaise's to stand between them all where they stood off to the side of the table the Slytherin men had formerly chosen to rest at. Hermione froze instantly, her face paling under Draco's watch even as Theodore turned to Blaise, whispering over to him to comment on Draco to his mate quietly, "This guy over here… This guy's been so quiet tonight!"

"It's called refined." Draco had already consumed a decent amount of alcohol and a fair amount of drugs already in the night but he shrugged Nott's hand off easily, cocking a brow as Hermione moved to finish the contents of the glass in her hand, leaning to place it back on the low table resting before her near the wall.

"You guys want to get blitzed?" Hermione's interactions with Theodore Nott were limited but he seemed to have no problem openly, and quite drunkenly, asking everyone at the table it they'd like to get messed up but with what she really wasn't sure. Hermione's laugh was light, softened around the battered edges now being smoothed with liquor but Draco's mood was not swaying from his sneering scowl flashing up to Theodore at the loud question before he narrowed his expressions down onto Blaise.

"You better give him an etiquette lesson before I am forced to remind him."

Blaise seemed to keep sobering him up on the spot far before Draco had set his sights on him but he shook his head with a dull look at the blond staring bitterly.

"Sorry, Malfoy, you've already promised me the first lesson." Draco's quickly turning vicious scowl swiped from his face as he dropped it round his shoulder to glance at the woman tightly held in silver lace jutting her hip out at him and resting her weight against a single leg with her arms crossed slack over her chest. A wave of thoughts and expressions flashed Draco's aristocratic features in the flashing lights before Hermione but she stood there, watching him watch her, firmly. For a moment he too just stood there, eyeing her but the corners of his lips twitched into a rather amused smirk before he tossed his head back to Theodore in response.

"You heard the lady, sorry mate. You lot have a good time." Draco was shrugging off Theodore's confused expressions as he smoothed back to the scrunching face of the brunette before him as he opened his palm out, "Shall we?"

"Don't forget the handcuffs!" Pansy shouted loudly at the pair as Draco smoothed his arm around Hermione's shoulders, turning her away from Nott, Blaise and herself alike while he swiftly raised his middle finger up behind him in response but Blaise's drawling tone stole everyone's short span of attention while the pair slunk off into the noise.

"Excuse me…just what exactly are hand-coughs?"

* * *

><p>Hermione's rather intoxicated state allowed her to move quite easily under Malfoy's arm as he whisked her off into the bar to where she wasn't sure, like most of her experiences venturing with him, but she traveled none the less. He seemed so much more at ease, even now, smiling down at her as he moved to take another bottle from the bar without the raise of a brow or the bat of a lash. They'd slid around the side of the room, dipping out the open drapes and out into the silence of the open night.<p>

Draco had walked them out into the large open lounge resting quietly out on the clubs extravagant patio. It didn't seem to impress Draco much but the glowing candles floating inside the clear water of the huge pool dead center of the space, the large torches, and the unbelievably clear sky had Hermione turning slowly round on her heels to take it all in. No door had closed behind them but the booming bass and heavy flow of music had silenced deafly the moment that they'd fully set foot on the beautiful slabs of stone lining the structures, floors, and walls around her.

"Nice distraction in there, freckles. I fear I may be rubbing off on you." Hermione turned back to face him just as he moved to press his thumb against the cork of the bottle, sending it shooting off beside them with a loud pop. His grin remained still as the liquid burst from the bottles top, foaming to spill out onto the stones at their feet before he leaned forward to press it to his lips, tipping it up to take a few sips of the fizzing champagne, attempting not to let it spill down the front of him.

"So then, are you going to tell me why you're being such a prat tonight now or should we finish the bottle first?" His posture righted up, Hermione moving to take the bottle from his hand, taking a small sip for herself, watching him sigh wearily with a small scrunch on his forehead.

"You haven't really dealt with what happened tonight, Granger." _I haven't dealt with what happened tonight, Granger._

"And?" Hermione's tone was a bit cold as she questioned him, moving to take another firm drink before she motioned it off to him, crossly folding her arms once again as she eyed him boldly.

"So, you are going to have to deal with it…and I'm not trying to make it harder to deal with." Draco took the bottle, lowering it at his side with his hues set against her, watching her every move.

"What the hell are you on about, Malfoy?" Hermione tossed her arms up, laughing a bit with a shake of her head, completely confused at his sudden irritation for her issues, or so it seemed.

"You've got a lot to deal with right now and being here is going to give you a lot more to deal with when you do." Those hard sapphire tinted hues turned away from her, his tone soft in the unusually warm air surrounding them as he added, "I shouldn't have taken you here. It was a poor decision."

Hermione quirked a single brow, lowering her own arms from her chest as she cocked her head at his retreated face, beckoning him with her sarcastic notes.

"Are you kidding me right now, Malfoy?" Draco turned back to fully face her, his expressions anything but that of humorous.

"Do I truly seem the type to joke about these types of situations, Granger?"

"Draco…I am drunk…and I'm pretty sure stoned." Hermione paused, thinking with a wiggle of her head before she nodded to him, "Yes, I am stoned. Either way, everything is groovy, pal. Gravy, baby."

"And you are being seen being gravy baby by far too many all knowing eyes right now, my dear."

"Who gives a fuck? Since when do you care, Malfoy?"

"I don't!" His tone rose quite quickly and Hermione flinched her brows up at the sudden outburst. Draco swallowed harshly, adjusting his coat before he cleared his throat, refraining himself into a more dignified manor before he continued on, "Not about what they think of me, anyways."

Hermione moved her hands to the bend of her hips as she stepped to close the distance between them, a small pout pressing from her bottom tier and a light furrow in her brow, "Can't you just stop thinking so much?"

Draco let out small, defeated sigh. The over analyzing queen herself had just told him to stop over thinking…what in the hell was this coming to? Against his better judgment, Draco bent to her ear, leaning down against her as his words breathed against her neck, "Not when it comes to you, Granger." Hermione felt the words tingle through her but she wasn't sure if it was the way Draco nearly breathed his velvety sentence into her as he said them or exactly what he said that had her skin tingling so fiercely but she stood rigid none the less. With a small pause, she nodded her head with understanding, tilting it only in the slightest with her eyes angled up in their stance to him.

"If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong but if I am then tell what it is that will accomplish your fuck it attitude tonight so I can prepare my over active brain now." Draco had leaned a breath or so back, enough to see the light smile on her lips before she answered back.

"For starters, I plan to finish that bottle you're holding hostage and then I'm going to _really_ get drunk. I'm going to dance until I can actually feel my feet again, I might throw up or flash someone, possibly both, and get kicked out of at least three bars but I would prefer to do all of the said above, and countless other nameless things, with the Draco Malfoy who escorted me out the other night."

It was Draco's turn to pause. Her dark lashes were fluttering low over the apple of her cheek, watching his lips as he watched her for awhile before she added, "If he's not available then I suppose you were right, you shouldn't have taken me here. It was a poor decision." This woman would be the death of him by the end of this night.

Her chin was lifted defiantly now, her face raised boldly to him with the bar set as she questioned Draco on his ability to drop his charade once again, even if it meant ignoring his inclinations that it would harm her, or so he was trying to convey. His tone was nearly growling at the back of his throat, his face leaning down dangerously close to her quite suddenly as he ground out, "You know that I'm right here, freckles."

"Well alright then, Draco Malfoy…" She stood still in the stance with him for a moment, either of them watching each other carefully before Draco scrunched his nose in the small defeat, his pale brows inching in together as he turned his head down to the bottle in his hand.

The night quickly moved to dart around Hermione and what she requested be the recipe in her night's disastrous saving graces and she seemed to be checking off her list rather quickly, or so it appeared to her. Just as she said she had every intention of doing, Hermione had accomplished her efforts to finish that rather expensive bottle of champagne with Draco and probably half of the bar before they'd ever even thought about rejoining their group. Her vision so far through the night had been hazy at best and her steps were anything but on cue but it made no difference to the usually prim and proper woman, at least not while she had Draco to hold her upright. She'd stumbled through the club with the tall Prince of Peroxide once they'd somehow managed to find Pansy and Blaise, laughing and partying so hard that she had truly forgotten any pretenses, pains, or any real thoughts at all. Hermione danced to her heart's content for hours on end at the end of Pansy's, Draco's, and even Blaise's hands at one point, frolicking and hanging off each other like they were the best of friends all at the ending work of a bottle or eighty five. To tell you the truth, Hermione couldn't truly remember if she'd managed to check off getting tossed out of a place or two for the evening because her brain eventually was nothing more than a mushy pile of swirling colors being marinated in thumping melodies.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until Malfoy had managed to stumble their way back into his loft, at whatever hour that was, that Hermione began to get a bit of wits back about her. Draco's arm was slackly around her waist as he stumbled his way in, kicking the door shut behind him with anything but grace.<p>

"Fucks me, Merlin…aw, aw mah gods, Draco…I'm smashed." Her own voice sounded foreign to her at the moment, her head whirling a bit as she clutched his chest for support where her hand laid. Draco dropped his head to his own hand, his own brain swirling in a wave of liquor, he was sure, as he fought the urge to fall over as Hermione slurred on.

"Oh my god, Draco! Bed…I need bed…"

"Bed…" Draco repeated, swallowing hard as he nodded along with the thought affirmatively. It sounded heavenly but it sounded like so much work at the moment. Hermione let out a squeal, hiccupping as Draco bent to press his shoulder against her stomach, lifting her over top of it with a rather faltering start. Her long legs kicked against him, squirming a bit where she laid along the bend of his shoulder as he plucked her already untangling shoes from her feet all before even managing to find his way into the open blackness of his bedroom without crashing into anything. Well, that is until he kicked the end of his bed with a loud grunt, tossing her forward with a plush flop on the mattress below her.

Hermione sighed as she felt her weight sink into the overstuffed comforter laying a crossed his bed, completely spread out without care or concern. Her body didn't flinch in the slightest as he moved to fall into the space against her arm, the bed dipping under his weight, tossing his arm over her waist. Hermione groaned herself at the warmth of his arm on her waist, curling in against him as her lids slid low, trying to stop the room from spinning to viciously around her.

"Draco…oh my gods…" It was all she could seem to rant on, mumbling about how drunk she was, slurring her head this way and that as she pulled on her dress.

"It's fucking hot, Granger…" Draco may have been referring to the heat in the room, as a matter of fact, Hermione was sure he was since he was crudely removing his shirt without really trying to get up but she laughed none the less.

"It's cause I'm here, duh!" Hermione flopped to her back, growing irritated with her attire but it seemed Draco, sloshed completely or not, read her thoughts as he lifted up to his knees, moving to help her tear down the tight lace he'd purchased for the very curves her was revealing. Seemed that they looked far better without the fabric holding them swiftly…Draco's darkening hues slid among her exposed flesh, sinking onto his knees where he'd resting between her thighs, leaned forward on his hands pressing the mattress to dip at either side of her hips.

"It's always hot in my bed when you're in it…not so hot in the morning though…" His words sounded so low and tired, like he was out of breath just being awake. Hermione moved her slender digits up to slide against the deep curve of his cheek bone, gracing the muscle covering such structured bone as she tilted her body upright in the slightest. Draco's head dropped, sighing hard in the still air until he felt her lips brushing against the plush bend of his own. All at once, his muscles tensed, his hand shooting out to grab hold of her bicep as he breathed in her scent despite his hazy state.

"What are you doing, freckles?"

"I don't really know…" Her hands slid their way to the base of his neck, lifting herself closer as she stroked his jaw softly, never moving her mouth as she breathed on, "…kissing you I suppose." Before she could motion herself, although she'd flinched to begin, Draco used his grip on her to press her back a short space.

"Stop." She seemed to ignore him, moving to press herself back up but his hand held her firm, a small frown on her face as he shook his head. "You're too drunk and you've got shit to deal with."

Hermione laughed beneath him, giving his chest a light shove, "I know what I'm doing! I know…I know that you want me to."

"Doesn't matter," Draco was still shaking his head. He appeared much like a stubborn child, frowning and pouting all at the same time, "I can't."

"Are you telling me no right now, Malfoy?" Hermione had slid her weight back onto her elbows, half propping herself up as he slumped down on his side beside her on the bed, still nodding all the while.

"Yes, Granger. No, Granger. Bad, Granger." Hermione sighed hard and fell back against the sheets, her whizzing thoughts numbing around as he slid his shirtless frame against her own, pulling her taut against him.

"Draco…" Hermione moaned a protest of his name, curling to her side and in against his chest. Hermione arched her chin up, mumbling her words into the crook of his neck, "I'm so drunk…"

"I know, freckles."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Here is my official apology for being MIA. I've had some personal tragedies that I have been stuck recovering from but I am back!<strong>_

_**I kept going back and rewriting this chapter. I felt it was important to get a crossed that Hermione was letting go enough to enjoy herself but she was still Hermione after all. I couldn't very well have her buying hookers and blow. XD Jk. As always, I'll proof read it over later butit was nagging on me to get this out.**_

_**Next chapter will be up soon. Fair warning, prepare for the consequences of Hermione's free will, the return of Ronald Weasley, and possibly (and finally) some smutty D/H? Muhaha.**_

_**Enjoy!**_


	7. Chap 7

Draco's head felt like it was ready to cave in, sending pulses of bright white lights darting through his brain, flashing behind the closed lid of his eyes just taunting him of the coming day. A low groan scraped the edges of his dry throat, feeling his muscles strain as he stretched his long frame where he laid face first down on the crumpled mass of sheets. Again, Draco made an inaudible sound, stretching his fingers out to grip them into the blankets, rolling his shoulders back to pull his fallen head upwards. It took all the strength that he had at the moment, but he'd managed to pry his lids open enough to see the damning light blinding in as warning before he'd quickly screwed them shut once again, clasping his hands at either side of his head to stop the rapid beating.

Merlin, he knew that he'd had a lot to drink last night but this was a bit ridiculous even for him…and all at once, with that simple, first real thought of the day, Draco's cerulean hues found the strength to drift open once again, slowly scanning the angle of his head to the space of bed beside him. His throat cleared heavily in the room, tearing his sights away from the empty space that sat vacant next to him, once again.

Ever so carefully and slowly did Draco's long legs, still clad in his trousers from the night previously, moved to press down to the foot of the bed, dragging his body upright to turn his eyes away from the runaway space that was from Hermione Granger and instead to drop to the wood planks of his floorboards, dropping his elbows to his knees as he attempted to rub to sleep and strain out of his eyes. Once again, she'd disappeared from his bed, just as she had the last time, and Draco was left with a hallow feeling at her absence. This wasn't normal and it simply wouldn't do but he was irritated, angry, bitter, and ready to throw up for all the same reason.

The last time Granger found her way to his bed, she was still theoretically wrapped on the arm of Weasel, whether the stupid twat of a man deserved her or not so he could vaguely chalk up the fact that she'd run back to her boyfriend. After all, it wasn't the first girl who'd he'd sent back to her significant other the morning after, shrugging out the actions as if they never happened but that little task seemed a little harder to do when the man she was running back to, this time, was the same man who'd battered her physically and emotionally the night previously. For the second time, Draco had given into her and tried to give her what she needed and it still wasn't enough to keep her from walking back to the disaster that brought her to him time and time again. Bare feet settled casually against the chilly wood planks as he pressed to his feet, feeling the pressure beating inside his head down to the bones in his heels as he attempted to straighten himself where he stood, reeling in the hangover from a night that was Hermione Granger.

He needed coffee, and a good remedy potion…and a shower! Draco frowned as he managed to stumble out of his room into the hall, his hand still cupping his head, trying to will away the impending headache that insisted on growing stronger with every step he took. With a harsh wave of his hand, Draco sent the heavy black drapes down amongst any visible window on his slow, dragging walk to the bathroom, trying to snuff away the violent light screaming inside his brain waves. His preoccupation and already sickened state left him unaware of his surroundings a bit too much however for just as Draco turned to enter his bathroom; his body was met sharply with the hard connection of another. Bare feet stumbled back a good step, the formerly squinted hues darting open ferociously at the intrusion before they fell onto_ her_.

There Hermione Granger stood, chocolate hues wide in her startled sights, long curls weighing heavily down her shoulders, deepened into a rich hazelnut with the saturation of water left trailing from the tips down onto her exposed flesh to soak inside the soft towel she held onto. Plush lips were parted silently in her awestruck where her feet had settled her back after Draco plowed into her with her hands clutching a rather large, sage green towel around her frame modestly at the center of her chest.

"God damn, Granger!"

The shocked expression on her face swiftly molded into a rather confused thought before it shaped into a quiet twist of an emotional sadness. Her tone was so quiet on his ears, even in the silence of his apartment, but she'd already had him mentally smacking himself for his reaction before she'd even mentioned a word.

"Sorry…I was just going but my dress is in your room and I don't have any other clothes here…you sent them to my hou…"

This time, Draco actually hit himself in the head. She actually thought he was upset she was still here? For him, it was quite the opposite. Draco was startled to see her, and yes caught off guard, which is not something he commonly liked, but he was thankful to put at ease a few of his own bitter thoughts regarding the alternative.

"Shut up, freckles." And just like that, the calm smirk, the small tug at the corner of his mouth inching it upwards jumped right back into place as he eyed her, standing there dripping with water before him, shivering beneath his rapid mood change.

"What? I just need to get my dress…" Draco lifted his hand dismissively before he settled it to her shoulder, patting it softly as he moved to brush past her and into the mist that remained inside his bathroom, moving swiftly to the large cabinet above his sink.

"To hell with that. And I'm pretty sure I tore it, anyways." His voice was gruff at the back of his throat but there was something so natural in the way he spoke to her now as she moved the tuck the towel around her securely so she too could fold her arms over her chest, standing in the doorway, turning to face him as she rummaged through the shelves, looking rather satisfied once he'd accurately picked the round, squatty bottle of his liking.

"You did not. And we did not do…that so you couldn't have." Hermione answered him bluntly, her brows raised at his statement but he simply plucked the cork free, tossing back a good half of the black swirling liquid and swallowing hard before he could answer her, barely swallowing the liquid without choking as he attempted.

"No, I stripped you, remember?" Draco patted his chest, clearing his throat hard as he moved to hand it out to her, giving a nod with his head for her to take whatever it was that had his face scrunching up like that. "Couldn't find the zipper, I just pulled." Draco paused, watching Hermione hold the bottle before her, frowning at the thought of her dress being destroyed not the mention the implications of his words.

"I liked that dress…jack ass…what is this?" Draco chuckled hard at her response, pointing directly to her as he answered her.

"A potion for that, Miss. Moody Pants." She certainly did not demonstrate her position well as Hermione stamped her foot and set her fists solidly to her hips, clutching the bottle and frowning at him all the while.

"I am not moody, Draco Malfoy. I am hung over. And I'm not even wearing pants."

"Exactly. So take the damn potion, Granger." The smug expression on his face stopped short at the process of the last part of her statement, unable to stop his eyes from drifting down the bare curves of her legs lining down to her feet standing against the marble threshold. No, she was definitely not wearing pants, but he wasn't complaining. "Shall I make a different nick name for you then?"

Hermione downed the rest of the bottle, squinting her eyes, nose, and every muscle of her face all the while she did until it slimmed down her throat and began creeping into her senses. The potion tingled inside her, easing the swell of her brain and leaving a soft sigh falling out of her lips.

"Better, darling?"

"Much." With another satisfied sigh, Hermione placed the empty bottle back on his sink counter, raising a brow to him with a tint of mockery in her voice, "That's the best nick name you could come up with?"

"No but I didn't think you'd appreciate the alternatives."

"Ass!" Hermione swatted him in the center of his bare chest, her own laughter light against her words as he moved to catch her hand, chuckling as she snatched it back with a rather humorous giggle.

"That was one of them! Well, with another adjective or two before it." This was the man that sat with her and let her drink away her sorrows. This was the man that smiled and genuinely acted as if he enjoyed her company. This was the man that allowed her safe haven for reasons she'd truly not understood quite yet. She was quick to jump to the thought that he'd saunter back into Malfoy the second the sun rose and the liquor ran off but once again he'd bested her and remained the same, civil, if not charming, man he'd been portraying himself to be. The normal Malfoy would have ripped her to shreds for intruding on his personal space but then again the normal Malfoy wouldn't have offered her a hangover cure the morning after a very drunken adventure.

"You hungry, freckles?" Hermione's eyes snapped back up to him, waking her from her thoughts as she nodded deeply to him.

"About to eat your arm, hungry." Draco's smile never wavered, laughing a bit under his breath before he too nodded at her as she added, "So why don't you take your adjective ass to that shower so I'm not subjected to cannibalism."

With either arms held out to his sides, Draco bowed his head low as he commented, "Yes, Dear." Hermione had made it halfway into the hallway before she stopped to whirl around just as Draco rose from such a diplomatic gesture.

"Fuck, Draco. You ripped my dress." Chocolate orbs widened in remembrance to her attire situation, sighing her head off to the side as she eyed him a bit exasperated but Draco only shrugged off her frustration, waving a hand as he turned to his shower, set to start the water.

"Go steal some of mine. We can take the bike then." Hermione had nodded quickly before she'd really thought about his words. She gave him a nod in response and whirled back on her steps, moving back to his bedroom before they echoed over in her head. Delicate features inched in against themselves in thought; turning her head to eye Draco in the bathroom over her shoulder a bit but the fierce, startling knock at the door had her jumping round to an all new direction entirely. With her body frozen in the hallway, Hermione's hands instinctively moved to clutch her towel, shooting her sights on Draco who was already pacing out into the hallway suddenly sans pants. Draco peered down the hall momentarily to the door before he turned to her as she shrugged her shoulders with wide eyes. After all, this was his home, how was she to know who would visit him? As of a week or so ago, she wasn't even on that list. Light brows closed in together, his hands brushing reassuringly, for what reason she wasn't sure, off of her shoulder as he smoothed by to set his path and sights to the intrusive knocking that did not seem to be stopping.

Clad now only in a pair of black boxer briefs, tightly hugging against him in all the right places, Malfoy quietly moved to peer out the eye hole but whatever it was he was looking out to in the hallway on the other side was leaving him a bit rigid. Hermione watched the muscles of his body twitch as he lowered himself away from the door with swift silence, whisking back to her so quickly that she had to adopt his own startled expression as he coarsely whispered out to her, "It's bloody Potter." Hermione said nothing for a moment, a bit confused as to what he meant. Certainly Harry wouldn't be here, at Malfoy's, right?

"It's bleeding Potter, Granger!" His whisper became a bit harsher than he'd intended and Hermione jumped at the realization that this was indeed happening.

"Oh my god…"

"Granger, go." Draco motioned with his head to go hide herself… in the bathroom, in the bedroom, it didn't matter! He was a bit frantic, trying not to appear frantic as she just stood there, shocked still on her feet that were about to start growing roots if she didn't make haste.

"Granger!" Draco had made it back half way to the door before he whipped back to see her still standing frozen but his command snapped her quickly into gear. Her feet padded along the wood with soft thuds, darting down the hall as quick as she could scurry. With one hand clad around her towel, her opposite flung open the farthest door on the right, tossing herself in the darkness and clicking it closed rather abruptly just as Draco flung his own front door open into the hall. Pale lips pulled back to bare her teeth, wincing at the noise she'd just made, hoping it'd go unnoticed as she slunk back from the door at the sound of footsteps heavily stomping inside and the door slamming closed behind them.

There was a lot of mumbling going on. Why did she have to run to the end of the hall? Now she could barely make out what they were saying but she could hear the tone Harry was speaking in and it didn't sound joyful.

"If she's not with you then where is she, Malfoy?"

This was really bad. She'd done such a good job letting herself forget about her problems that she hadn't even thought about the fact that her friends would never allow such a thing to happen. She was stupid to think that Harry wouldn't have come looking for her after she'd left him without explanation in the middle of his party looking like a battered housewife. Hermione raised her hand gingerly to her cheek, wincing once again in the darkness at the stinging emitted back to her senses when her fingers brushed over the swollen bone. It seemed Pansy's charms had worn off entirely much as she was sure her own charms were wearing off on Malfoy right about now. She wanted to run out and tell Harry everything but she just couldn't. All Hermione could do was stand there in the darkness, wanting to hide herself away from everything and wanting to start forgetting the way Malfoy allowed her to.

"Like I told you, Potter, I have no clue. Should probably keep better tabs on your _so called friends_, hm?" Hermione was straining to hear them now, pressed against the door. Draco sounded so bitter to her now, no longer drawling his words with unconcern but what did she really expect when his loathed enemy for seven years was standing in his own home accusing him of Merlin only knew what.

"Sod off, Malfoy! You're a fucking liar!"

Draco chuckled lowly before he added, "Like I care what you think, Potter."

"So you just ran into her and she asked you, _Draco Malfoy_, to take her to a party? So out of the what? The sheer goodness of your heart you just decide to take her and then part your separate ways?"

"Did you lose your hearing, Potter? I already told you that, three times now. And truly, I hate repeating myself so can we wrap this up? I'm not fond of standing around half naked with another man." Draco's hues rose wide as Harry continued to drone on question after question with the terrible, up ward inflection.

Hermione heard something rustling and then a soft plop of an item landing down against something before Harry continued damn near shouting on, "Then what the fuck is this?" The talking went silent for a moment; no one said anything but Hermione could feel the tension all the way from where she hid in the blackness. Draco cleared his throat, his tone a bit more refined before he answered Harry.

"As much as I enjoy new dribble, I also do not wish to read the morning paper, again, half naked with you, Potter, so thanks, I'm sure I'll enjoy the article later, probably next to one about how you might be a bit queer like the one I read last week, but Granger is still not here."

Harry was beyond himself and Hermione could feel that vein in his temple throbbing in her own veins. The second he'd seen Hermione disappear in the arms of Malfoy, his night had been shot. Both he and Ginny had left the party shortly after to aparate back to the manor to find a rather grief stricken Ron on his knees in the hall. Thankfully, by the time Harry and Ginny had found him, Ron had managed to dress himself but he sat sunken on his knees looking awestruck and wounded, ready for enveloping arms of comfort and love when they'd ran to find him set there. There were a lot of 'well, you see's' that stammered from the red heads mouth but Ginny was on him like a moth on a flame, drilling him for answers with a ferociousness that only a woman Weasley could possess. She'd managed to get him to sob out that he and Hermione had broken up, that they had gotten into a rather heated fight but he'd done every trick in the book to avoid answering anything else. It was then that Ginny had lost her patience for her own brother, setting her sights to seek out her friend but she was nowhere to be found.

She hadn't went home to her parents, she hadn't went to the burrow, the cauldron, the three broomsticks, or her favorite book store…eventually they gave up and returned back to the party, hoping she'd find her way back. When she never did, Harry found himself here, at Malfoy's door, equipped with a rather intimate article in the daily prophet dreamily describing the playful demeanor between the Prince of Slytherin and the Gryffindor Goddess the night prior and just littered with live action photo reels broadcasting the two of them in the night but Malfoy too, like Ronald, refused to say a word. He just stood there ignoring Harry without as much as a blink to the evidence in front of him. Harry had no idea what it was that had his two best friends parting ways but after all those fights, Harry was starting to have a sinking suspicion that perhaps it all did root from the pureblood preacher before him.

Harry slowly pushed his glasses up the brim of his nose, his emerald hues dead set against Draco in their fierce stare off, "I swear to God, Malfoy, if you did something to her…" Before Harry could even finish trailing off Hermione felt herself wince internally. It was like a ticking time bomb that she'd just watched the countdown run out on in Malfoy's brain. She felt the fuse tick and blow just as his cold laughter echoed down the hall.

"If _I_ did something to her? If **I** did something to _her_?" Hermione held her head in her hands, her breath caught in her throat. Her mind was flipping so quickly along with her rapidly racing pulse and she was suddenly fighting the urge to burst from the room and cover Malfoy's mouth before he could tell Harry everything before she could in her own words.

"You really are a bloody imbecile, Potter, you really are." Draco turned coldly, flipping the Daily Prophet over on the table as he did, tossing over his shoulder as he continued, "Why don't you go have this talk with Weasley. I feel your efforts are misguided."

"What did you say to me?"

"You heard me, Potter." Draco's words were becoming venomous. He'd had enough of this. The entire night all he'd wanted to do was rip the very man in question limb from limb, finding himself at the end of the bottle to dwell down the hatred. Seeing Hermione's purple face this morning certainly did not help but having Potter staring him down, yelling at him the same words he shouldn't have been blind enough not to use on his very own friend was the straw to break his back.

"Oh no? You're such a good friend to be out looking for her, huh? Why don't you be a good boy and start from the beginning. Why don't you go ask Weasel why it is exactly your friend went crying into the night in the first place? Have no idea do you?" Draco really wasn't giving Harry a chance to respond, watching the dumbfounded look on his face as he stalked around eerily in front of him, pacing a bit to keep himself the slightest bit in check.

"What the fuck are you on about, Malfoy?" Harry was thoroughly confused but hearing Draco Malfoy talk about Hermione like he knew her so well was unsettling at best but Draco just scoffed; sneering all the while he answered Harry.

"Ronald Weasley is nothing more than a greedy, selfish, disgusting low life. He's a bloody coward, Potter. If you're too dense to go have the chat that needs to be had with him, that's plenty fine by me, I'm quite thrilled to take up the role, but as it stands, your friend is still not taking residence in my home and neither should you be…so get out."

Hermione stood pressed still in her position with her face and hands flat on the door, straining against the wood but she heard nothing. She was greeted with nothing but the cold silence of the door answering her back and the soft thump of blood throbbing in her own ear until the soft click of the door closed suddenly. Hermione jumped from the door, her hands covering her mouth at the footsteps slowly making way down the hall. Quietly the door pulled open, the light filling so quickly she had to squint to keep herself from screaming but the body said nothing. A single lid squinted open, eyeing the tall figure until her sights settled on Draco's pursed lip expression.

"This is really bad…"

"Forget it."

"How bad was the paper?" Hermione hadn't moved from where she stood in the center of the room, her hands on either side of her face, watching him wearily as she questions him on what she'd assumed Harry must have brought. Perhaps she'd get lucky and he'd tell her he had no idea what she was talking about still…

"I probably shouldn't answer that…" So much for that.

* * *

><p>With much persuading and much reassuring, Draco managed to leave Hermione with the very paper that was causing such a fuss while he left to clean himself up. She'd done everything in her power to make every known excuse in the book to leave the moment Potter had disappeared but Draco had somehow managed to convince her that she had no reason to be running to them. The truth of the matter was that they all should have been running to her.<p>

Glumly, Hermione had managed to pull on a pair of Draco's old Quidditch sweats, finding their oversized weight comforting in the complicated mess that she was in. Two cups of tea and seventy five times reading the front page splay about her and Draco's late night adventures, Draco had finally finished showering and dressing himself into something modest before he emerged into the kitchen to find her still sitting cross legged at the large, overly carved wooden table in the corner of the room. She was still resting in her chair, her elbows pressing down into the top of the table, glaring at the pages like it could honestly sense her anger towards it.

"Stare at that thing any harder and you might force yourself to learn a bit of wandless magic…set it aflame." Draco mused, much to her unamusement, as he stepped through the room, turning his head before he could witness the sharply addressed stare she'd set to the center of his forehead.

She hadn't remembered anyone taking pictures of them last night but she certainly didn't seem to mind last night either from the way she looked in them. As a matter of fact, Hermione looked as though she'd downright posed for half of them! Her eyes danced on the photo of Draco resting his arm around the back of her waist, waltzing out of some club and into the streets, laughing together with a bottle of liquor hanging from the tips of Malfoy's fingers. It only made matters worse when she'd turned, smiled, and actually waved at the flashing camera before she and Draco disappeared off into the night and the reel quickly restarted again. There was a decent photo of the two of them dancing, a shot of them standing a bit too close and sharing a cigarette out on the balcony, and even a shot of him fixing her shoe strap when she'd nearly fallen out of it, on bended knee as she held his arm for support. It was a lot of damning evidence all at once…and the article certainly didn't make the evil appearance any more holy.

They made sure to joke about how she'd crossed over to the dark side, switched brains and even so far as to say she was purposely dating Draco to take attention away from Harry winning the war. Can you imagine? Of course they also speculated if it was Draco that had turned sides as he cuddled close to the Gryffindor princess, wondering if his chivalrous acts were the new and improved Malfoy at her magical hands.

"I warned you, freckles." Hermione frowned even with her face locked into the Daily Prophet's scribblings, scowling a bit as she managed to detract herself long enough to toss her head around her shoulder to roll her eyes at him while he moved to pour himself a cup of tea.

"Do you understand how bad this looks?"

"Who cares?" Draco mocked her own tone of voice, taking a small sip of the warm liquid before he'd even set the kettle back along the stove, watching as she turned in her chair to focus her murderous glare at him more suitably as he continued, "He's the one that hurt you if you don't remember. I'm not sure why you think I'm supposed to start caring about the son of a bitch that…"

"Stop…Ron deserves to feel like a piece of crap because he is but because of this…because of this!" Hermione stamped the tip of her forefinger down on the paper to emphasize her point before she continued, "Now because of this, Ron is going to think that I really have been shagging you behind his back this whore time so he'll be all '_Oh wah, you're a big cheater too! Screw you Karma!'_ and it's not even true!" Her hand slammed down now as she rose abruptly to her feet, the chair groaning along the marble tiles.

Draco's stare was much softer than her own while it started growing wild but he certainly wasn't amused with her words. "What kind of a man cheats on…" Draco paused with a bit of a snarl, "…woman like you with a fucking slag and then has the audacity to harm her?"

"I need to go talk to Ginny. Explain things."

"You can't be serious…Seriously? You seriously want to go to Weasley Manor?"

Hermione folded her arms, the large sleeves of his sweatshirt hanging over top of her hands and poking out the small spaces at the corners of her arms. "Don't even start with me, Malfoy! These are my friends were talking about…thinking I'm a big floozy…and it's not even like that! I have never cheated on Ron and you don't even like me."

"Well if they are really your friends and know you like you claim they do, Hermione, than they won't think you're a _big floozy_ as you so eloquently put it now would they?" Draco moved to set his tea cup down on the counter, frowning as he whipped back around to face her, "And who said I don't like you? I mean, have you even been here the last few days?"

"Oh shut up, Draco. I know you like me…" Those deep chocolate hues rolled fiercely as she scoffed out, "I meant you don't want me like how they think you want me. Or everyone. Oh I don't know, just shut up, Draco."

"Who said?"

"You!" Hermione tossed her arms up in the air rather annoyed as she moved to stand before him, her hair dripping wet against the pale grey sweats, staining it a deeper shade as it did. "You did, Draco Malfoy, when you stopped me from kissing you."

"You were bleeding drunk." Draco was short in his response, watching her become more and more irritated as she attempted not to appear bothered at all but Draco only grew calmer, folding his arms and raising his brow daftly before he continued at her obvious disapproval of his previous submitted answer. "You had just broken up with your boyfriend; I didn't think it was right to take advantage of you. Then."

Hermione shifted her weight onto either side of her hips, rather unsure just what exactly she wanted to do now with his words lingering in the air. He wasn't supposed to say that. He was supposed to say, 'no, Hermione, I don't want you, you are correct, as always.' Well, alright, that was a fantasy a bit but she certainly was unprepared for him to say that. If she was honest with herself, she'd admit that she was far out of her mind with liquor when she'd made an attempt to kiss the poisonous mouth of Draco Malfoy but she found in the morning she was a bit more stunned at his denial. Even as she stood in his shower rinsing the lingering stench of cigarettes, liquor, and sin out of her hair, she could only mentally scold herself for assuming Malfoy had ever even considered such thoughts about her. She'd spent the better part of a summer thinking, wondering about him so she convinced herself it was only natural that, considering his unusually hospitable demeanor, she'd read far further into things than she should have or was prepared to. For the entire wake of her morning, Hermione beat her brain up inside her skull; reminding herself far too much of that horrible muggle move "He's Just Not That Into You."

While she went on a mental rant of lashing herself for her quick jumping thoughts, she physically found herself smacking her head at the idea that she even cared whether Malfoy wanted her at all. The love of her life, her boyfriend and best mate for countless years had just broken up with her for another woman and here she was trying to make a move on the nearest thing with a third leg that showed her a bit of decency. That was what this was, wasn't it? Well, whatever it was, Malfoy had just flipped the score and very bluntly confessed the reason for his coyness in the evening hours while he stood there unaffected in front of her, watching her like a hawk ready to rip into its prey.

"Oh." It wasn't the best answer but it was all she had. Draco's pale hues watched her still, a bit bloodshot even as they narrowed in the wavering, rising light pattering through the room, locking onto her and setting a straight path through her, crossly questioning her from his feet of space.

"Do you come with an instruction manual, Granger? I mean really…please help me understand where I've messed up this time." The low scruffiness of his voice was beginning to sooth at the edges as he lifted his hands in his bafflement, slapping his sides when they fell slack. Deep chocolate specks shaded a hair or two darker when Hermione rolled them hard into the back of her head, scrunching her nose and glaring hard through his own set scowl at his dramatics.

"Because this is too complicated. It's all…complicated."

"It's complicated? Really, freckles? That's the best you've got?" It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes, giving his head a small flick back before he tossed his hands up to comb through his hair, trying to calm the rising fire smoking deep within him. "I asked you to come see me and you did. We went out, we had a good time, and we came back to rest. That is not complicated, Granger." Long, slender fingers brushed through the short strands, lacing together to rest his head back along the weave, watching her all the while but Hermione thrust her forefinger up into the air with counter along with her slender brows as she butted in.

"Ah, but I had a boyfriend then, Malfoy so therefore all of that was complicated because…"

"No, you having a boyfriend at the time had and has nothing to do with this, Hermione." His hands slid from his head in one fluid motion, taking a step forward so slowly that Hermione felt the need to draw her own an inch back. "Admit it."

"What do you want from me, Draco?" Hermione was so bewildered being caught in Malfoy's cross hairs that she didn't know how else to react except like that of a cat backed into the corner: with her claws out. Her tone raised a note of two higher, shaking her head at him as she whirled around in a fanfare of hair to turn her back against his heated stares. "Maybe all those accusations have played with my head but this…" Hermione turned with enough time to motion between the two of them, "…this can't happen. Whatever the hell this is!"

"How can you tell me it won't happen when you don't even know what this is…or could be." Draco advanced slowly on her, watching her turn her eyes to the ground as she stubbornly folded her arms a crossed her chest. Those storming sapphire hues watched her down the pristine curve of his nose from his towering height, nearly scoffing at the sight. "You're scared."

"I'm scared?" Funny how they repeated themselves when they knew the other was right. Hermione's eyes grew wide, readying to smack that smug, condescending look right off his arrogant face but she had a full line of words ready to part her lips first. "Scared of what? That my friends are going to think I've lost my mind? That I'm using you to get back at Ronald? That you're using me to get back at daddy?"

"Watch it, freckles." Draco's tone dropped drastically, damn near threatening but he always chose to call her that blasted nickname like he was attempting to reassure her he'd do no real harm.

"What am I scared of, Draco Malfoy? Because I'm pretty sure you've also been on that list."

"You're scared of wanting to be here, Granger. Wanting to be with me instead of him, like everyone thinks you're supposed to be." He'd had just about enough of her ranting now, standing before her, shouting back and forth in the wee morning hours after a rather obnoxious greeting from the wonder boy. "You are scared that you could be happy, which is the stupidest thing that I've ever had to think about you, for the record."

"I am not scared to be happy."

"Oh shut up, Granger. You are too. Why else would you run back to a coward that beats you?" Draco had already turned his back on Hermione's pout but he sure managed to toss a rather bitter glare a crossed his shoulder as he let out that little mental hand grenade. Hermione stood rigid as it blew in her neurons, drawing her expression back sharply like he'd just struck her in the face but he turned on his heels to face her once again, continuing the arsenal even while she was still attempting to recover. "I'm sorry…did you think I really didn't know? Honestly? Come on…I know that's not the first time he's put his hands on you, in one way or another but for you, I've kept my bleeding mouth shut about it but U can't stand on the side lines and do that when you keep running back again and again…no, sorry, Granger. You don't want to be here with me? Fine, but do not lower yourself enough to that. It's beneath you and it physically makes me ill."

"I thought _I_ was beneath _you_, Malfoy. Mudblood and all." His surname snarled from her lips as Hermione bared her teeth venomously, her hands set on her hips, standing off against him but he only tossed his hand up and snorted with indifference.

"Yes, Granger, I'm the monster here. How low I make you feel in my arms." Hermione too tossed her hand up at the sarcasm dripping off every syllable out of his mouth. "You are the only woman to ever set foot, hand, or toe on that bed, on my personal bed, and the only woman I've asked to stay in it. You are the only woman who has run out on me after I've done so as well…but _I'm_ the bad guy here?"

This was getting far out of control. He was animatedly tossing his hands as they both yelled at each other but for what reason anymore he reason wasn't sure. He was growing heated over the thought of her being anyway near Weasley when his mouth started to rant much more than it needed to. It had taken every ounce of sheer will power but Draco had managed to say no to her for the better purpose last night, or so he'd told himself it would be, but now he was scrambling trying to understand just what that big picture was now. At first he just wanted her out of his head, out of his dreams and out of his thoughts but then he began simply wanting to be around her, keep her out of harm once again. It seemed harmless enough in his head at the time but honestly, Draco couldn't contemplate whether or not he simply wanted Granger on the physical aspect, like he'd been hoping this was the underlining problem, or whether he truly wanted to be with her but he certainly did know that he did not want Weasley to do either of the aforementioned things with her either.

"You're no better than him. Standing here, telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing but you don't even know what the hell you want." The short, petite framed woman deftly raised her chin to him, looking down her own nose against his holier than though attitude as caught him in her sights. "Tell you what, Malfoy…I've decided that I don't need indecisive people _complicating_ my life. I think I've had quite enough of that and I think after I sort out the clutter after those complications are gone that my life will be all too happy."

"That's your decision?" She was fully expecting a good yell or two but Draco stood firmly, moving to fold his arms coldly over the taut muscles of his chest as Hermione nearly laughed in sheer exhaustion of the argument.

"Yes! I don't need this."

"Fine then, Granger."

"Fine."

As much as she wanted nothing more than to punch a hole square through Draco's forehead, Hermione scowled, frowned, and stomped herself around from the vision of his stoic holding features now, boring a hole right back into her. The moment she'd abruptly turned to storm from the very room, however, she found her shoulders slumping a bit as the confusion of it all began to sting into her veins. Her anger was quickly turning to awkwardness right before her very own eyes, tilting her chin a crossed her shoulder with the oddity trapping against the words falling from her tongue.

"You know that I've got to go, Draco." Draco only stood tall where he'd remained with his arms loose over his chest, watching her beneath his lifted brows, statuesquely loaming in her near distance but he only stared, hard and cold as he commented.

"Then leave." He sounded so very Malfoy in that moment, his tone slicing through her veins and finding its way to leak into her nagging senses. She had never been too sure what she had done so far to earn Malfoy's unbelievably welcoming attitude as of late but she was pretty sure that she'd just slung it all into the mud with the way he'd sauntered into his bitter persona so quickly.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alright! It's a little short but here's chapter 7! I was going to wait and post this with the other part of this chapter but I felt it really wasn't necessary looking it over and decided to split it up. <strong>_

_**Next part will be up soon. Enjoy!**_


	8. Chap 8

It was with much procrastinating, and much defeat that Hermione finally bowed her head and sought out her best mates for a bit of one on one time that she's so carefully avoided and had managed to dodge so far. Truthfully, she hadn't been trying to ignore them, quite the opposite really, but for as much as she loved both Harry and Ginny alike, she'd unfortunately found better ease hiding out with Malfoy than confiding in them like she should have s after a quick owl, and a good much needed changing once she'd managed to make her way back to her parents flat, Hermione was off to face the music and do just that. After all, when one leaves her friends hanging so dramatically, she probably shouldn't show up wearing the sweats of their former enemy the morning after. In that former enemies very own words, she had 'enough shit to deal with already.'

The once sparkling lights remained dull and lifeless inside the all but vacant bar that Harry had rented out the night prior when Hermione had finally aparated to track them down. Her ever searching eyes had to squint to make anything out in the darkness, scanning the emptiness greeting her back.

"Gin?" Hermione called out into the room, her voice echoing off the walls around her as she drug her head around the vast empty tables already swiped clean. Hermione felt her stomach clutch a bit, sighing a weak breath while she motioned a bit more into the room, glancing over the large, almost over filled trash bags littering in a pile at the corner of the bar. It seemed Harry and Ginny had already done most of the clean up but considering she'd left them in the middle of a party that she'd already promised to help host, she'd hoped that helping scour afterwards might make a bit of difference in her soon to be trial, she was sure, but it seemed they hadn't left her the option.

"Hermione?" It was Harry's voice that questionably called out first, drawing her attention up sharply as she glanced around the back where she'd sworn she'd heard him.

"Harry?" She suddenly felt like yelling Marco and dodging between tables but she fought the childish urge the moment the dark, unmistakable mess of hair popped around the back corner. He was a not much more than a shadow in the bleakness, the only light breaking in through the closed drapes of the windows just willing the sun back down.

"Hermione!" Harry was much more ecstatic to see her than she'd previously thought he would be, nearly jumping out of the doorway he was stuck behind, those bright emerald eyes darting wildly as he started a heightened pace towards her but not before yelling behind his shoulder to Ginny finishing up in the other room, "Hermione's in here!"

"Harry, hey…" Harry stood tall a good amount of inches on her but she was thankful for his warm embrace when he'd fully rushed it into her, wrapping his comforting arms tightly along her waist to pull her in against his chest. Hermione's slender limbs wrapped a crossed Harry's broad shoulders, smiling into the warm material of his knitted sweater vest, sighing as he brought his hands to her face, cupping her as he tilted his own head back to address her.

"We've been so worried about you…oh Hermione, what happened?" And just like that, Hermione felt that smile twitching the corners of her mouth downward, tightening as her eyes lowered to the floor but Harry was having none of that, staring through her, carefully touching the newly revisual bruise along her face.

"'Mione!" Ginny was far less coordinated than Harry when she'd popped from inside the bar's kitchen, nearly tripping over her own feet to rush out onto the bar floor. Her small feet skidded to a stop at the side of her boyfriend, nearly tearing his shoulder back before enveloping Hermione into her own hug, mumbling out the same words Harry had just previously uttered. "Harry and I went back to find Ron after you left…"

"With Malfoy…" Harry interjected but he shut his lips firmly when Ginny set her snarling glare straight to the center of his head.

"…anyways, yes, with Malfoy but Ron said you guys broke up." Well, it seemed she wasn't under the interrogation light, yet, so to speak. Hermione had known the two beings in front of her well too closely for far too many years and she knew well enough that if Ginny Weasley was upset with her, truly upset with her, even in the slightest, that she would have already adopted a tone much similar to her mother's but as it stood, she reserved her soft voice to the air of the room with a saddened look pinned on her porcelain toned face.

Hermione nodded her head long before she moved to give a verbal answer, standing there, holding Ginny's face in her hands as Ginny held her own, sadly wincing at each other in the heart ache leaking from Hermione's words, "It's over, Gin. It really is this time."

"Let me guess, you guys got into it about Malfoy again?" Harry absently pressed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, questioning softly at Ron's usual temper.

"No, not exactly." Hermione's slender hands slid from Ginny's embrace when she moved to answer Harry, sighing as she folded them along her mid section, curling a bit into herself. "He left me actually. He left to be with someone else."

"Excuse me?" Ah, there was the Molly Weasley voice completed with Ginny slamming her small fists into her hips, shifting her weight on to a single leg with a single brow inched high in incredibility. How exactly did you tell your best friend, who just so happened to be the man in questions only blood sister, that he is a cheating bastard? You simply can't. Despite the fact that Ronald Weasley did not deserve one ounce of decency from her, she simply couldn't break Ginny's heart with the Merlin's honest truth about her brother. She couldn't cause an even bigger rift between the friendship that they'd all fought so hard to hold tight to especially after all they'd managed to make it through.

"I went over to surprise Ron last night and he said he wanted to talk when I'd got there." Hermione tried to explain again with much more caution, turning her eyes between both Ginny and Harry alike as she did, "He said that obviously we had been better friends, and this was messing everything up, so it would be best if we called it quits." The words nearly made her own lip curl in disgust as she lied so wildly for him.

"You said he left you for someone else." Ginny stood firm in the space her feet had grounded, somehow managing to incline her brow upwards a hair to the question as Harry nervously moved to place his hand lovingly along her shoulder, hoping to calm the familiar fire that was steaming behind her feisty eyes.

"Well, he said things weren't really working out so we decided to break up. He's was going to try to be with someone else now. Lavender Brown."

"That slag!" And just like that, Ginny tossed her hands and her condemning stare right up in the air. The moment Hermione bent the truth to appear as if he'd actually given her the decency of waiting until he broke her heart to find a mate, Ginny had instantly swung back round to Hermione's defense. Harry, however, found himself a bit caught up on all the hazy details however.

"Where does Malfoy come into this? And none of that explains what happened to your face, Hermione."

"Malfoy doesn't come into this." Hermione turned her face and attention to Harry fully, watching Ginny questioning the exchange out of the corner of her ever watchful eye as she attempted to bypass the later question. "I just ran into Draco at our party and he said he was leaving so I asked him to take me. Honestly, I was upset and the last thing I wanted to do was see Ron, talk to Ron, or think about Ron…He knew I was upset when I left and I knew he'd try to seek me out to make sure I was alright so I decided to just disappear for the night, I guess." Hermione trailed on, waving her hand at the detail.

Harry could understand that much but then again he understood far more about Hermione and Ron, not to mention their relationship, than he was sure even they did sometimes. Still, Hermione was lying through the skin of her teeth and they both knew it so Harry boldly questioned on. "Alright, so Malfoy agrees to take you somewhere you don't have to deal with Ron…and then decides to be your bodyguard all night?"

Hermione drew her bottom lip in between her teeth, chewing against it in a heated thought process debating in her head but Harry only shook his head. He also knew far too much about Hermione and her insane issues with Malfoy but he always hoped that it would be a later story.

"Hermione…" Harry began slowly, trying to be calm in a conversation he obviously didn't want to have, "…you're just upset and confused right now."There was that word again…_confused_. Hermione was under the impression that it was Draco Malfoy that was confused, that it was Ronald Weasley that was confused, hell, everyone was confused!

"I am not confused about anything, Harry Potter! We kept running into each other so we had a few drinks together, alright? We just talked a bit. That's it."

"Hermione…Harry's right, don't you think people are going to think it's odd? Seeing you with Malfoy of all people right after you and Ron broke up? I mean you saw the Prophet this morning, didn't you?" The airy lightness in Ginny's voice was odd, her hand now resting on Harry's shoulder, switching their roles in a matter of seconds but Hermione only shrugged her indifference, tightening her arms along her body with a flick of her head to send the errant strands of chocolate curls back from shoulders.

"Yes, I read it. It's a bunch of rubbish that I've never read too much into anyways so why am I supposed to now?" Oh but Hermione did care far too much about that blasted article, no matter how nice those carefully followed photo reels appeared to be.

"And let me guess…Malfoy could care less about you two being publically romanticized all over the wizarding world? How do you think Ron is going to feel when he reads it?"

Hermione paused for a moment; frozen in her awestruck astonishment as she stared at Harry hard, slack jawed and stunned, attempting to shake the stars of his assault off. How would Ron feel? He was joking, right? "I imagine that since he is going to be lying with another woman every night that it wouldn't hurt him too much to imagine that I might move on too. And no, Harry, as a matter of fact, Draco does not give a damn about the article."

"Of course Malfoy doesn't give a flying fuck about it! Why the bloody hell would he?"Harry should have felt a bit ashamed as she reminded him of Ron's choice of actions after parting ways when one of their closest members to what they called a family but the thought of them actually not being together was not something that Harry was sure he could process currently.

"Because it's a bullshit article, Harry! For being so fucking smart, you really are clueless sometimes." It seemed Draco was right. They shouldn't have been there bashing her nor her actions, they should have been supporting her, telling her they were happy she had someone to keep her from throwing her body of the nearest cliff thanks to their horribly wired friend.

"Hermione the only thing Malfoy wants is revenge. He wants to use you, hurt us, and destroy everything like he normally does and so far it looks like he's succeeding." Harry had had conversations very similar to this with Hermione before but they were always so quiet and vacant, much more like a soft reminder not to bother thinking of the man more than a warning like it was now. "What could Draco possibly want from you? Break us all up to get the final hooray? To get information? Payback against his daddy? What? An aire? Because I imagine his pureblood genes are so drastically fucked up now that he'd have to procreate with a half witch in order to even have a child that lived past its first breath."

Hermione's hand landed so sharply against the table that even Ginny twitched her hands up to cover her mouth from letting out a startled gasp. "You listen here, Harry Potter…Draco Malfoy has not laid a finger on me and for your information, I sought him out, not the other way around so if anyone was using anyone…it's me. I mean really, Harry! Do you really think so lowly of me that you can't imagine that maybe, just maybe, there is a small, teensy, tiny possibility that someone else might find a little pleasure in my company? Am I really so awful of a friend that you can't understand why anyone, including Draco Malfoy, would choose to be friendly with me for reasons that weren't against _you?_"

"Can you please stop calling him Draco?" Hermione stood still at Harry's request like she hadn't even heard it with that insatiable question of hers glued against her subtle features and broadcasting straight at him. "I'm sorry, Mione," Harry left the words fall deaf in the room, hanging in the air as he drew a sharp breath of air into his lungs.

The moment the phrase left Harry's lips, Hermione instantly felt silly. His warm face swept a solemn wave a crossed the concern straining behind the frames of his glasses. He had every right t o be judging Malfoy in this type of situation, whatever the hell it was, and she knew it but she had just fought side by side with the very man before her, questioning_ her_ as well.

"You really think it's done though? Between you and Ron?" His words were still biting at the back of his throat, trying to understand without boiling over with his never ending concern.

"Yes, Harry, I think it's really over but I think it's all for the best." Hermione did her best to raise her voice into a more chipper tune but it didn't do a very good fact in covering how badly she was lying outright. It had obviously taken a lot of pride swallowing strength for Harry to drop his argument so Hermione figured that a little false assuring was the least she could do.

"Well, we're pretty much finished here. Harry asked the house elves if they'd take the trash out back already so we were going to stop next door to the restaurant and grab something to eat. Are you hungry? You've got to be…" Ginny wasn't sure whether she wanted to grab Harry and plant her lips on his high cheekbone for taking one for the sake of his friends happiness for the moment or to wince at the tension that was still hanging above them in the room so she figured breaking the ice with the offering of sustenance would be her closest bet at splitting the difference.

* * *

><p>It'd been a long morning with Granger's tirade still hovering in the air and that was saying the very least. For the first time in countless nights, Draco had managed to actually get a few hours of rest with her beside him and those precious minutes of much needed slumber had been completely without the unforgiving screams he was growing far too accustomed to being awoken with. Now, however, she'd managed to snatch whatever calmness she had over him away and toss it right out the open door when she went waltzing back into her own little world. For about an hour after she'd left, Draco had paced his apartment, trying to convince himself that it was simply for the fact that he'd consumed such a large amount of liquor the night prior that had left him in such an easy state but much to Draco's own knowledge already, Draco found his own reflection in the hallway mirror feeling the need to point out that he had spent a good month trying that very technique and it always failed miserably so there was no need to go trying to make him believe it decided to work just this once. What could he say? Sulking around caught up on a witch who had clearly made her own choice before slamming his door so unladylike behind her was not suitable attire that Draco was so willing to strut on so easily.<p>

For the better part of his life, Draco moved by the seat of his pants, at his own accord and as he so pleased. He'd strived to always get what he wanted, in one shape or form, and he'd do it all on his own sweet time. Woman, money, power…all when he felt the desire to. Well, until Hermione Granger had to come along a screw everything up. From the moment her screams cried out against his family manor's cold stone walls, she'd dug her way into his head and poisoned it with tiny, lingering images of her. Blaise and Pansy had been right all along about the matter and deep down he knew it. He should have just left it alone, he should have left Granger alone but she'd approached him at the bar! It wasn't his fault she'd decided to bring it all up again, was it? Why couldn't he have just walked away and let it all stay buried in his head with the small price of never being able to sleep soundly again?

Draco managed to get a few owls out to Pansy and Blaise, once he was done thoroughly trashing his loft, to ensure they had made it back somewhere safe but Granger's voice was still ringing in his ears, haunting him far worse than his dreams could dare hope to come close to. Each wall of plaster his fist pummeled through, every painting he'd hurled from the walls, and every piece of furniture he'd flipped, tossed, and kicked only brought him closer and closer to the realization that this was indeed, his own fault. By the time Draco had finished ranting, and damn near destroying everything his hands could lift or shove, he was left with nothing more than bloody knuckles, panting breath, and a dull ache burning at his core.

What the hell did he expect from her, after all? She'd been through hell far before Weasel ever touched her and his only former effort was supposed to be to comfort her, to be there for her. When did everything get so fucked up that he actually stood in his own kitchen yelling at her? And for what? Because he felt rejected? Perhaps a part of him did but that was entirely a new sensation for the Prince of Pride and it was not an emotion he was truly equipped to handle. All he did was stand there convincing her that he was just as confused as she was, tripping over his words and complicating her world more than he'd intended to but wasn't that exactly what she was doing to his very lively hood?

The wiring in Draco's already over active brain was beginning to run faulty as he gave in and collapsed his weight down on to his knees in a pile of his own destruction and thoughts there in the middle of his living room floor with the residual thought that he was angry with himself for not being strong enough to admit to her what he wanted.

* * *

><p>"Please excuse Tinky, Miss. Granger..." Hermione's fork nearly dropped from her hand at the small squeaking voice of the house elf reaching up to give the skirt of her cream dress a small tug. The startled expression quickly disappeared the moment the floppy eared creature smiled broadly, holding out an envelope at arm's length to her at the side of the table Harry, Ginny, and herself had been seated at. "There was a delivery for you."<p>

"Thank you very much, Tinky. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to bring this to me." Hermione's soft eyes brimmed to the elf, placing the envelope down in her lap as Ginny shot Harry a tossed expression. Hermione loved those little things like they were children. Every time she saw one, her eyes brightened with tears and she smiled so hard that the young Weasley was sure that one of these times her teeth were going to crack in pieces.

"It is not problem, Miss! Tinky is glad to help Miss. Granger and Mr. Potter!" There was a brief moment of pause at the table as they all weakly waved, grimacing inwardly, as Tinky made her way back through the restaurant to disappear behind the large, always swinging, kitchen doors. For that one small instance, they all were reminded of their recent passing months, almost cringing to wait for the house elf to admit she was a friend to Dobby or someone else they all wished they could have protected so they were thankful when she'd chose to get back to some task instead. They always knew when it was coming…whoever it was, forcing them to remember, they always identified the trio in the room personally, thanking them and ignoring the other faces present. It was like a warning sign that came fully stocked with blaring buzzers and flashing, neon strobe lights.

"Who's it from?" Ginny raised her brows as she carefully moved a spoonful of soup into her mouth, leaning forward a crossed her bowl with far more grace than her brother possessed.

"Oh, yeah." Hermione brought her hand the smack the center of her forehead, laughing a bit at her own absentmindedness. "I got a little distracted…" Harry chuckled a bit, watching as her dark curls fell forward a long her shoulders as she bent her head to pop the thick, red wax seal along the back, holding the questionable contents inside. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened to truthfully cause his two best mates in this natural, and too often far unnatural, world to part ways but he was at least a little thankful for the fact that one of them was no longer in a pile of tears.

While she wasn't kicking her shoes off in comfort, Hermione seemed to let herself relax in their company as all of them tried to prepare themselves for Hogwarts in the coming days, enjoying a bite of food but that small strain of tension that always sharpened around the almond shape of her eyes twitched when she popped the letter out and opened it inside her lap beneath the surface of the table. Harry fought the urge to strain a crossed the plates to see what it was she was looking at but it seemed his girlfriend had missed the smooth memo and was already doing just that much to her disappointment that she still could see nothing.

"What is it?"

"It's uh…" Hermione felt herself frown a bit, her mouth pursing off to a single side as she lifted her eyes to the familiar softness of Ginny's as she answered with a bit more certainty, shrugging a bit all the while. "It's from Malfoy."

"No way!" Ginerva Weasley was the closest person to a female best friend that Hermione had ever had and she certainly was living up to the part as she clasped her hands on either side of her plate, her eyes wide as she demanded, "What's it say?" Harry's scowl to her was far less thrilled and Ginny mouthed a sorry before completely waving it off and turning her attention back along Hermione.

"Nothing much. Wanted to know if I wanted to have dinner." The words came out so nonchalantly, trailing her eyes back down to the letter resting open in her lap.

_I'm not confused._

_We should talk. _

_Dinner?_

_-DM_

That was it. Three short sentences, if you could call them that, but they were enough to send her pulse panicking again. She suddenly felt the urge to look behind her shoulder and check beneath the table but she swallowed and forced a small smile up against her lips as Ginny commented off handedly, "Sorry about him, we beat him to it."

"Why does he want to take you to dinner now? This is starting to get a little too bazaar for me." Harry couldn't help but question her once again as Hermione casually searched her purse for her wand, trying to appear un bothered by Harry's quickly changing demeanor as she moved her hand to scribble a quick note back.

"Who knows? Maybe he's bored." Hermione lied a bit, sighing as she debated both the words to come from her hand and the ones ready to come from her mouth, "…He's just being…_nice_. Well, for Malfoy." The words sounded foreign even to her as they trickled out, drawing her bottom tier in to clench between rows or pearled teeth.

"That's what I'm worried about, Hermione. I'm worried about just how nice Malfoy is trying to be with you."

"Harry, stop." Ginny didn't warn him like she normally would have scolded her brothers or anyone else but she simply told him.

"Gin, if we broke up and the next day I saw you plastered all over The Prophet on the arm of Malfoy, _smoking _for Merlin's sake…well…" Hermione nearly scoffed as he attempted to rationalize his rising temper to the unconcerned red head glaring straight back at him as she stomped out, "Well, nothing! I would never. And we would never so don't you even say that." No, they wouldn't and that would never happen but then again, Harry would have never betrayed Ginny nor would he have done any of the countless horrible things Ron had inflicted against her so what it really a good comparison?

"Hermione…this is like Stockholm's syndrome."

"Oh my God, Harry! Draco did not kidnap me at any point of last night and do you want to hear something funny?" Harry's face drew a step back at Hermione's coy smile, her head tilting to the side in the slightest as she folded her hands over the letter resting in her lap. Ginny turned her head slowly, eerily moving her eyes to watch Harry as he debated with great perplexing thoughts what it was that Hermione could possibly find funny right now, in the middle of this argument, at this very moment. "He has never said a bad word about you. Any of you, really, at least not in front of me." Harry wasn't sure how to take what she'd just said but he was beginning to have the sinking feeling he wasn't going to like it if far more came out. "As a matter of fact, he doesn't really say a bad word about anyone but then again I'm pretty sure losing your father, the threat of this kiss or a stealthy stay at Azkaban, which he's already spent a small stint in, if you've forgotten, and being left to fend for yourself would do that to someone."

"Merlin, Hermione, listen to yourself. You are actually sounding like you feel bad for Malfoy right now!"

"I don't feel bad for him." Hermione kept her sights level on Harry, staring straight through him while Ginny stood on the side lines, helpless in the battle between them. "I feel bad for you, Harry." The words could have come attached to a nuke and they still wouldn't have caused much more damage but she wasn't finished just yet. "I feel bad for you because everyone else has had the opportunity to let go of their hate, to try and move past it except for you."

"So what? You two are making plans to move past it together now? By getting drunk all night long? Yes, he sounds like he's changed so much." Why was she getting so angry? She wasn't sure if she wanted to reach a crossed the table and smack Harry for the fact that he was so boldly questioning her rationality and sanity at the moment or for the fact that he was talking so lowly of Malfoy after everything he'd already done for her. Yes, alright, they had drank every night they'd spent in each other's company and she'd fallen asleep quickly beside him thanks to the dreamy state it'd put her in but in the defense of it, she'd only really come to him when she was hurt and truthfully in need of a good drink not to mention the fact that Draco had downright refused to even remotely get intimate with her because of it, whether he was claiming to want it or not now.

"Who we talking about?" The smoldering heat in Hermione's glare shifted irritably at the interrupting voice until she saw the glum expression ginger haired head slide around behind Harry, drawing his attention too as he smoothed into the scene. "Harry, hey, Gin…Hey, Hermione…"

Just bloody fantastic. All at once her stomach fell to the pit of her stomach, all the tiny hairs on her body stood up on end leaving her skin stinging in the anticipation. How could this day really get any worse? She couldn't help the fierce roll in her eyes as her hands shoved her seat back from the table, the letter and envelope alike clutching in her hand as she set to feet.

"Mione, please wait." Ron had begun to move around the side of Harry and Hermione hadn't missed the weak moment of debate as Harry lifted his hand to stop him but he only found it lost in the air as Ron moved to catch her arm instead just as she whirled to exit. It was with a sharp tug that she tore her limb back from him, tearing it away like his touch was burning holes through the exposed flesh of her forearm.

"Keep your hands off of me, Ronald Weasley. I told you. I've had quite enough of all of this for one evening." It was partially her own fault…had she just explained to them the truth of the matter, well, no, if she had told them they wouldn't have been here in the first place.

Ron held his hands up defensively, trying to keep them in her plain sight as he cautiously talked, appearing so calm and chivalrous to all but her own knowing mind, "I just want to talk. I just wanted to make sure you were alright…"

* * *

><p>"Don't do it, mate." Blaise's hand clasped Draco's shoulder far faster than his muscles had a chance to twitch a motion like he'd beckoned them to at the disgusting length of that scum's fingers coiling around Hermione's arm. His own slender digits gripped a fierce hold along the balcony railing there in the chic little restaurant he and Blaise thought would be a good change of pace for a drink or two versus the disaster that had become Malfoy's palace while he waited for her answer after bowing his head in defeat and owling her. Draco was beginning to feel a fiery burn flaring his knuckles white against his tightening grip, his breath huffing slowly at the need for retaliation. He had no idea Blaise's choice came with a free show but it had him on the edge of his seat, watching from the depths of the shadows from his high perch above, wishing to be in the cast suddenly.<p>

For a good few minutes when Draco first spotted her, he'd fought the urge to grace down and tell Potter just where he could stick his condescending wand but she honestly seemed relaxed and so he simply stood, watching her quietly as she laughed with them but it wasn't long before his stalking sights triggered down onto the one thing that was standing in his way of her. Draco's brain relapsed into a pure animalistic urge with trigger intent at the very sight of Ronald Weasley but the moment his touch neared Hermione, Draco thought he'd simply crack.

Blaise's hand never left his shoulder, his finger tips pressing in against the thin fabric of his suit jacket to hold him at bay as he watched the small exchange. Granger was doing everything in her power not to boil over at the seams now from the looks of it but it was Draco's twitching fury that he was honestly worried about.

* * *

><p>"Ron…" Ginny was trying to sound reasoning as Hermione firmly shook her head for the millionth time, firmly denying his request from her.<p>

"I don't have anything to say to you, not now at least so please just leave me alone." Harry moved a hand to motion once again towards Ron's arm, beginning to climb from his seat as he gave it a bit of a soft tug, trying to remind him nervously of their semi public surroundings but Ron paid him no mind.

"Harry, stop, I'm just trying to talk to her." Ron reached to snatch her arm once again, hauling her back a step towards him as he brushed off Harry's hand all the while. "I'm just trying to talk to you…why are you acting so childish?" He was actually calling her childish?

The calm façade that Draco was straining to hold under was boiling beyond his control. His blood had been boiling at an alarming temperature for well over a better day and a half thanks to this very situation but he wasn't quite sure he was going to be able to keep it at bay far longer. It was a dangerous moment for Draco, with the conscious thoughts of Azkaban, the work and sacrifice he'd already given in to just to exist in this world, and the unsteady outcome of her hatred towards him with his desires currently, but he still could think of nothing more than watching Weasley bleed on the ground below him.

"Ron, let her go, this isn't the time." Ginny rationalized again, sounding a bit irritated as she gave Harry a rather incredulous look, trying to get him to stop this before it became worse.

"Shut up, Gin. Hermione seriously…"

Hermione's soft cheeks, the single side still bitterly broadcasting its deep shade out, scrunched up as she turned her head away from Ron's lying, cheating face. With a deep scoff, her eyes rolled hard to the back of her head as she sighed out at him harshly.

"Can you just shut up for two minutes, Ronald?" Without hesitation, the small witch yanked her arm free, tucking her purse beneath it and straightening her spine as she stood off with him. "If you want to talk then let's _go_ talk…" Ron's flushed face fell a bit sheepish with that condescending tone lacing her words, nodding his head softly to her while he stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his trousers. He kept his head ducked, trying to give Harry a lopsided smile before he slunk to follow her out of the all too judging eyes.

"What could you possibly want from me? Haven't you done enough?" Hermione moved slowly on her heels once she'd ventured out of the restaurant and far enough down onto the stone walk to appease her need to not make a spectacle.

"I told you that I wanted to make sure you were…" Hermione already knew where that sentence was going long before he finished it so she thrust her hand up to stop him dead before he could even attempt.

"Don't. You are a low life, Ronald Weasley. There are no excuses for what you've done and deep down you know that so no amount of pretending to be worrying for me now will make that change but don't worry, I didn't bother to destroy you like you so callously did me. I didn't tell Harry and Ginny so you can go rest easy with your new girlfriend. Well…she's not really new, I suppose."

Ron felt a wave of relief wash over him but it was quickly washed over with a pang of guilt retching in his gut at her words digging into him. "Hermione…do you think we could go somewhere else and talk? Maybe get a drink?"

Hermione almost laughed outright at his complete lack of regard for his actions, her voice barely biting back the fit of giggles she was attempting to suppress, "Oh I don't believe your girlfriend would like that very much. Besides, I have plans."

"Lav is at her mum and dad's tonight, saying goodbye before Hogwarts and all…" Hermione shot him a harsh stare and Ron quickly shifted his weight against him feet with his attempt to bypass his moment of stupidity, "Right, well, maybe I can tag along with you lot?"

"No, Ronald, I'm not going out with Harry and Ginny and no, you certainly are not invited. Please, just do me the bit of humility to just leave me alone." Hermione spoke softly to him in the darkness, watching the confusion wave along his face under the dim glow of the street lanterns.

"Well who did you make plans with then?"

"Honestly, that is none of your concern, now is it? If I decided that I wanted to go out with the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team in one night than that is absolutely not your business because _you _broke up with _me_, Ronald Weasley." Ron's head remained tilted down; his eyes up casted at her like a sad puppy dog being scolded with a newspaper.

"It's not like I don't care about you, Hermione…"

"Well I honestly don't give a flying fuck about you right now."

Hermione stood folding her arms tightly along her chest, raising her brows and daring him to make a move but much to her blinded surprise…he did. Ron motioned forward to grab hold of her wrist, pulling her forward to him in a small stumbling exchange of motion.

"How can you say that?" Again with the grabbing…Hermione sighed, growing rather bored of feeling like a rag doll on the other end of his hands but she attempted to tug herself back the moment she'd righted her feet, narrowing her gazes down upon him.

"You do not deserve for me to give a damn about you or anything involving you so get your hands off of me or I swear to Merlin I will…"

"Hermione you know…" Ron's voice started up so strong, so deliberate that Hermione clenched her lids closed to avoid the bewildered heat radiating off of his stare but it seemed that it was a poor mistake. Ron's sentence was cut in half rather abruptly, his grip removing with a hard yank so quickly that she had to fumble to regain her composure once again. In her own vibrating anger, she'd entirely missed the sound of the familiar crack of apparation followed by the loud pop of noise and a thudding slump. Hermione blinked her eyes rapidly to try and take in what it was that had Ron pulling away so fast but it seemed his back was to her. Wait…that wasn't Ron…

"Fuck me…Malfoy? What the fuck are you doing?" Hermione let out a startled gasp as she tilted her head around the back of his shoulder to the fallen body of Ron sprawled backwards on the stone in a dazing wobble beneath his groans. Did he seriously just punch Ron?

"Oh I'm sorry, how terribly rude of me. I should have said hello first." Draco ignored her entirely, advancing on his prey as he attempted to get to his feet but Draco managed to get their first, clutching his fingers down into the material of Ron's shirt to tug him the rest of the way up to his stance.

"Hello, darling. I've missed you too." For the second time, Hermione jumped with a startled gasp echoing out of her mouth as Draco moved in swift motion. She wasn't even sure how he did it honestly but before she could blink, Draco had sent Ron's rather lengthy frame sailing through the nearest pane of glass and into the restaurant in a loud shatter of falling shards. Ron's body smashed onto the tiled floor inside with a deafening crack, Draco's words coldly laughing in the night's darkness, hissing out like leaking poison to vibrate along the back of his throat.

"I thought you were looking for a fight, Weasley! Come on then! What's the matter? Can't hit back unless I've got a pair of knickers on?"

"Draco what the hell are you doing!" Hermione's voice finally startled out watching frantically as she attempted to rush towards him but he once again paid her no attention, moving mindless towards the broken window.

"Draco, stop! What in the bloody hell are you doing?"

"I'm doing what your stupid friends should have done." It was cold and blunt but it boomed in the air that seemed to suffocate around her but just as quickly as he'd said it, he'd moved to duck inside the now open frame, leaving nothing but the tall figure of his back to her and the sound of his steps crunching along the fallen glass.

"Good, you're up." Draco cracked his knuckles with his opposite hand, stretching his neck to either side with a small, mindless shrug.

"What the bloody hell is your problem, ferret?" Ron called out behind his closed fingers along his nose where he'd managed to stand up with the help of Potter who had managed to rush to his aid but Draco simply stood a few feet before them in his picture perfect image of calmness brewing something dark just behind the horizon of those sapphire eyes.

"My problem is simple, Weasley…it's you. I can fix that though…by caving your fucking face in."

"Draco stop!" Ron's face was slowly uncrumping, his confusion a bit more dawning as he whipped his head to Hermione's frantic pleading as she carefully climbed into the scene, attempting not to fall in her heels as she wobbled over the glass.

"Oh I see," Ron tugged at the front of his jumper, straightening it and himself coldly as he lifted his finger forward to her, "It's just as I said then, isn't it? You've been whoring off with Malfoy this whole time."

It happened so quickly that even Potter hadn't a chance to stop Draco from lunging out fully to take Ron down with him to the floor in a loud clap. The few patrons that had been quietly trying to finish their meals while watching the entire display gasped in shock as Draco's fists slammed time and time again down against Ron's face, screaming a line of profanities and a strain of threats so long that they would have made Voldemort blush. Hermione's hands were shaking by the time she'd managed to shove her feet into motion, scrambling to move to attempt to grip one of Draco's arms, without getting hit herself, as he tried to hold true to his promise to pummel Ron's head into the floor.

Harry moved quickly, grasping one of Draco's pummeling fists and prying back with a futile attempt to stop him from literally caving Ron's skull in while he tried to move his arms over his face with little to show for his efforts.

"Got to hit little girls because you can't sleep at night, you son of a bitch? I'll fucking put you to bed, Weasley!"

"DRACO! Stop! Please!" The moment her touch met his arms, he felt the motion halt behind the bone. Draco was kneeled there over a quite conscious but badly battered Ronald Weasley, his fists frozen in the air, his breath panting to the rise and fall of his chest, with either arm trapped between both Hermione and the bloody wonder boy. Slowly, his fingers opened, holding his hands splayed outright, signaling that he was finished, at least for the moment but he growled lowly to the filthy creature below him still before he was satisfied enough to draw back.

"Don't you try to justify your actions by thinking so lowly of her, you pathetic piece of trash. Unlike you, Granger had a little thing called decency and, for reasons unbeknownst to me, respect for you but none of that matters now does it? Because you've already fucked it all up all on your own." Both of Hermione's hands were on Draco's bicep now, trying to pull him back, her eyes sharply swelling with tears as he continued on, frozen in his anger. "Funny thing is, all your insanity…well, I didn't even have to try to break you apart…you sent her right to me so thanks for being such a sorry excuse."

"She'll never be with you, Malfoy." Ron's words gurgled behind the chipped shards of his teeth and it was enough to make Hermione want to hurl but Draco crouched coldly still, his stare only growing darker by the minute, vicious and cruel.

"You touch her again and I'll kill you where you lay."

"That's enough, Malfoy." Draco's muscles were vibrating beneath the surface as he rose to his feet under the touch of her ever tightening grip while Potter suddenly found the courage to speak. Despite the fact that all four of them standing, or laying in Ron's case, around Malfoy had all been on the other end of his never ending spout of hatred, Hermione had never honestly seen his eyes so dark before when he finally stood tall, running his hands along his suit jacket, dusting himself off with a disturbing easiness about him as he set his eyes piercing into her own as he doomed around to face her, tearing his arm away from Harry and brushing his arm from her hold all in the same motion.

"I am not sorry."

"Draco…" Hermione could barely breathe his name, begging him to let it go for as much as Ron deserved every punch delivered straight to that stupid dome of his; this was not helping her case.

"Well, it seems the rumors are true. There's never a dull moment in the life around the Golden Trio, now is there?" It was like a ripple of head snaps and whirling hair as everyone moved their sights to lock against the swaggering, raven haired man flicking his head to glance at them all with a sorted expression shadowed beneath the fringe of his bangs.

"What in the fuck is going on!" Ginny Weasley was beyond herself, raising her head up sharply with a wild strain of tears breaking off her cheeks and down to stain against the bright red fabric of her dress. She'd already moved to run to Harry and Ron's side but Malfoy's words were still ghosting their aftermath in her ears.

"Oh you don't know?" Draco's cold, bitter laughter eased out from between his lips, turning his gaze to Ginny but the new arrival to their commotion moved to speak before he could as he stepped to saunter up to Hermione's side.

"Granger…always a pleasure." Hermione could only nod to Blaise as he smiled his chipper smile to her. It seemed that Zabini was right…there was no one else that she honestly could think of that might be able to tame the beast that could be Malfoy at the moment but she wasn't sure if she would call anything about this pleasurable.

"Blaise…for the love of God, do something."

"No, someone is going to tell me the truth and if it's going to be Malfoy than I guess it's going to be Malfoy so start talking…_Malfoy_." Harry sounded rather unsure of himself as he attempted to take head of the situation, his brow furrowing in the creasing lines of his forehead.

Draco's casual drawl laughed outright at the thought that they'd honestly felt bad for Ron at all in this. They were completely clueless but why was he surprised? With a mild, single shoulder shrug, Draco opened his hands to Harry, "I tell you what, Potter. I gave you the opportunity to take care of this but since you couldn't keep your dog in his cage and train him not to put his filthy paws on a lady, I was more than happy to step in and oblige to help for a good retraining session. Thank you, honestly…I've been looking forward to that for quite some time."

Ron was barely making it to his feet by now, his arm slung over Ginny's shoulder but his towering height over her offered him little support for a crutch. There was so much blood already caking over his face, and so much more still freely flooding, that Hermione felt the need to shudder as Blaise smoothly moved to rest his hand down along the gentle curve of her lower back as he cleared his throat behind his fisted hand.

"You want to get the fuck out of here, trouble? I'm starting to realize that things tend to get too hot when you're in one place for too long." Hermione frowned inwardly at Blaise's nickname before she frowned quite visibly on the outside at him.

"Ron…what is he talking about? Tell me." Ginny was attempting the keep his head from lulling as he strained to understand who it was that was standing beside Hermione now. Truthfully his encounters with the man were obviously quite limited but he barely even recognized his face. Well, there was a decent amount of swelling sealing his lids closed by each passing minute so he supposed that also might have had something to do with it.

"Draco…" Hermione called to him lightly, beckoning his attention away from the questioning she Weasley. He could barely take his sights off of Harry long enough to catch her take a step into Blaise, shaking her head in disapproval before aparating away in a heavy flash of smoke.

"Go ahead and run to her you fucking loser…" Ron mumbled crossly between his spatters of blood lacing thick lines down the creases of his lips but it only seemed to make Draco's cold smirk etch harder into the chiseled depths of his muscles.

"I can always run to her, Weasley…but she'll always be running from you." There was no pause in his motion as he finished addressing the off expression on Ron's face, boldly answering him back with his off handed comment. Draco simply turned to Harry and nodded his head with that same aire of arrogance waving him off like he hadn't just turned everything, literally, upside down, shrugging and folding his arms along the frame of his chest.

"Sorry, Potter…another time it seems." Oh did he want to tell him all the sorted details and oh did he want to explain to Potter just how low down that flesh bag was but not at her expense so for the second time in 3 days, Draco smoothly closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the one place he could think that Blaise would take her to, aparating without another word and leaving the mess he certainly felt he hadn't started, but simply finished, behind him.

* * *

><p>"What the bloody hell is his problem!" Hermione was already in full rant before she'd even found her feet fully planted on the ground. Her hands whirled in the air as she turned to address Blaise, nearly slamming into him as he stood rigid in his position, slowly adjusting his clothing without worry or concern. Hell, he'd barely even lifted an eye brow to her as he fixed himself.<p>

"You're lucky he didn't kill him. I'm surprised he didn't actually…I was almost counting on it. Betting, really. I owe Pansy quite a few chocolate frogs now."

All she could do was groan loudly and stomp her food as she tossed her hands up and into the wild locks of her hair, cupping her head and clenching her scalp all at the same time to try and ease the rising migraine but the loud pop of Draco aparating before her made that task nearly impossible. His eyes were dark and a bit wide as he scanned the room, flinching a bit to find her so close as he motioned to reach out to her but she withdrew much faster as she lifted her forefinger instead to waver in front of him.

"Oh no…you do not touch me either, Draco Malfoy. You've done enough damage."

Draco stood still in his steps, shifting his eyes against Blaise who was so casually watching them exchange their words. "You can't seriously think I'd hurt you…"

"No but violence doesn't solve violence, Draco!" The three of them glanced around the triangle they'd created but none of them said anything. I mean, did she honestly expect Draco to say he'd made a mistake? He hadn't and she knew he felt that he hadn't so that wasn't going to happen. His lips were pursed tightly together, watching her fume behind her raised sights, growing angrier by the second at the silence greeting her from either man so she tried again to continue, "I think you broke his jaw!"

"Awesome. 10 points to the prince." Hermione looked down right incredulous as the two men nearly congratulated themselves, lifting their hands to high five each other over the damage before Draco moved to shrug his arms out at her, his voice falling airy against his slowly calming façade.

"What are you so upset about? I would have killed him but you asked me to stop. So I did." Well, she had pretty much demanded and told him to stop but he'd never admit that, even if both herself and Blaise had been there for the entirety.

"You would have gone to Azkaban." Hermione answered him flatly, watching him out of the corner of her eye as the words slid from her lips, Draco's normally tight posture falling slack as he attempted once again with a small wave of his hand.

"Oh I know that, Granger. Wouldn't be the first time you lot put me there." Blaise's dark eyes sharpened wide beneath the fallen strands of his hair, his lips parting with a coy smirk hinting amongst his words as Draco dropped the conversation to a dangerous place.

"It was going to happen one way or another, Granger. Be happy that it's over and done with now. He got his, you can move on."

Hermione set her sights against Blaise, shaking her head with a small snort. What was going to happen? Malfoy beating up Ron or Ron getting beaten up? It didn't matter which it was because Hermione was not happy about it either way. Well, alright, it gave her a small stint of satisfaction to watch him cower to Draco like she'd felt herself do so many times but that shaking fear that the waters had only grown muddier now had already set her brain into paranoia.

"You are both insane."

"No, we are both Slytherins. We pride ourselves on being the lowest creatures on earth so we take it personally when someone takes it upon themselves to do worse." Blaise paused, giving his head a small flick and tossing the fallen strands back from his sights before he shrugged his indifference to her, "It was him or me tonight, Granger. You lucked out easy." Blaise leaned a hair closer to her, the smallest amount of space, but his softened words shuddered against Hermione's spine all the while, "..because you couldn't have stopped me."Great, all Hermione needed was more overbearing men in her life. _Not._ She had Harry and Ron, well, at one point, on her right side and now she had Blaise and Draco pretty much threatening to stay on her left. She was starting to feel like the pack of wild horses was ripping her limb from limb.

"Screw this." Hermione turned her back from the both of them as she tossed her nose in the air with her arrogance, and much annoyance, about the situation but it paid little for her as she stumbled her feet quickly over the fallen end table missing a good three legs, kicking it a bit while her arms flailed out to catch her balance. "What the bloody hell…"

"Yes, I meant to tell you that you should fire your new decorator earlier when I was here but you were right, she is distracting."

"Yeah well…" Draco gave a snort, running his own digits through his short strands of hair as he too dragged his sights a crossed the mess he'd created, and then abandoned, earlier. Yes, he was a bit embarrassed of it now but he offered Blaise that simple, callous remark as he watched Hermione's eyes glaze over the room.

Hermione gave a tiny jolt at the vision of his lamp resting on its side, illuminating the room with desperate shadows, sending them climbing up the walls to do a poor job hiding his destruction. She took it all in with a slow turn on her feet, shaking her head in disbelief at the complete overhaul he'd done. "You know…I think I should just go to bed…perhaps I'll wake up and this will all be a dream."

"I got something that can make you feel like that." Both Draco and Hermione alike scowled a snarling glare right through Blaise and he motioned his hands up defensively with a small laugh beneath his breath before he moved to draw his wand from the inner depths of his jacket pockets. It was a small flick of precision from his wrist that sent a small blue haze to subtly around Draco's large couch, giving it a twist and setting it back upright. It wasn't where it had originally been but at least it was no longer slung on its down casted front.

"You're impossible, Granger. I am not apologizing for this." Draco shook his head at her as she mumbled a thanks to Blaise for his attempt while he repocketed his wand, rolling her eyes at Draco's dramatic exit off into his kitchen while she carefully made her way to his couch. Hermione found herself constantly shaking her head as she bent to shove the fallen leather cushions back into their proper spaces, nearly jumping when Draco stomped back to sling a blanket a crossed the back of the couch only to whirl around and disappear once again.

"Yeah, I'm impossible…" The words muttered beneath her breath but she heard Blaise chuckle lowly as he finally moved from his stance of watching her fix the couch and sauntered off to his friend who was already making some rather obnoxious clanking noises in the other room.

Hermione slumped to sit down with a heavy sigh, lifting her hands to cover her face as she fell back onto the couch, raising her legs up to curl into herself as she attempted to shut out the world. For awhile she simply just laid there, closing her eyes tight, refusing to use the blanket Draco had brought her but the sound of he and Blaise talking in the other room was proving hard to ignore. She'd attempted to cover her head with the pillows to block it out a hundred times as she tossed and turned before she finally gave up and chucked the soft, square pillow directly at the open frame into Draco's kitchen. With a stomp of her hands, Hermione sat up and glared a wild look to the silence that was finally greeting her back.

Slowly, she heard someone move in the other room, a hand flashing to pick up the pillow on the way to the door. It was Blaise's musing expressions that popped from the other side with the object loose in his clutch, a small smile sliding onto his lips as he approached her restless image.

"If you wanted to talk, you could have just said so, Granger." Blaise politely handed the pillow back to her, resting his hands against the slender bend of his hips as she hugged it in against her body.

"I do not want to talk, Zabini…I want to go to bed…and you two won't shut it." Blaise lifted both dark brows upwards before he moved to lift a slender vile from his pocket, wavering it in front of her before laying it down to rest in the canopy the blanket now created over her knees. Hermione briefly looked at it before raising her head to him once again but he was already retreating, waving his hand dismissively over his shoulder on his way back to Malfoy.

"Sweet dreams, Granger."

* * *

><p>"She alright?" Draco asked Blaise easily, his vice barely above a whisper when he'd reammerged looking the same as he always did: complete lack of any true emotion.<p>

"What? Yeah, just…moody." Blaise shrugged at the thoughts passing to try and explain Granger, reaching out to his friend with a snap of his fingers. "Pass." Draco moved his fingers up to the joint pressed between his lips, sharply inhaling to watch the paper burn brightly upwards, drawing in the smoke once more before he plucked it free, handing it forward to be gladly taken off his hands by Blaise to quickly repeat a very similar motion. The smoke had barely finished exhaling from his mouth, still slipping from between his teeth as Blaise choked out, "gave her a potion, she'll be out like a light in a minute."

"That sounds so fucking creepy, Zabini."

"I know. Perhaps I shouldn't leave you two alone tonight." Blaise mused over the thought, taking another drag or two while Draco rubbed the strain forming behind his eyes.

"I just beat the living fuck out of her boyfriend, ex, whatever…I am thirty steps back from where I was, mate. Not going a step near her." Blaise laughed a bit at Draco's admittance to fucking up a bit, handing him back his joint.

"You're bloody hopeless! This is fantastic."

"Sod off, Zabini." Draco snatched the thing rather quickly, placing it loose between his lips as Blaise chided on.

"Oh no, you certainly are. I've been watching this for a few days now…it is truly fantastic because you always say yes to her and that is why you are hopeless."

"I do not."

Blaise lifted a finger in counter, "You do too. Example: Yes, you can spend the night in the bed no one else has ever been in and sure, I'll just sleep on this side of the bed while you work out all your problems…_forever_…." Draco shooed Blaise off, sucking in the heavy smoke and patting his chest in an attempt not to cough but Blaise only lifted another finger and continued making examples. "Yes, I'll throw all my plans out the window and take you out on the town for like a bleeding week, no problem."

"Shut up, Blaise, seriously."

"You act like you're dating her…you take her out, _great_, you make plans for drinks, _super_, you spend the night together…_dating_. But you are not dating so to speak now are you? See? Hopeless." Draco wanted to use his already sore fist once again but he found better use moving to snuff the joint out against the basin of his sink, tossing it in a small glass ashtray beside it. "Missing that one sophisticated little thing, aren't you? Just haven't figured out the right thing to say because you don't want to mess up that _terrific _friendship you guys have."

"Seriously Blaise, fuck off…you have no idea and I am ten seconds away from reminding you that you have been in love with a woman for the last seven years that you have never had the guts to explain those very things to."

"Well yes, but you're Draco Malfoy. You're supposed to be better than everyone, including myself, if you've forgotten."

Draco swallowed hard, shaking his head as he admitted to him, "I can hear her, I can smell her, I can see her…I just can't touch or taste her. Three out of five really isn't that bad." Blaise's lip curled at the math Malfoy had just attempted to justify, scoffing his chuckle as he swept his bangs from his eyes.

"That's like a D. It's not even a passing grade, Malfoy. You're getting a D in your relationship with Granger…your godfather is rolling in his grave as we speak because you just said that, you know…"

It took a lot of thought but Hermione had eventually been annoyed enough that she willfully plunged the cork of the vile off and downed the contents in one gulp. The second the thick liquid slugged down her throat, Hermione felt the throbbing pulse in her brain begin to ease. With the blanket Draco had given her slung over her bottom half, Hermione folded back to the couch, leaving the empty vile on the floor beside her as her lids drifted closed. She could still hear every word that the two men were definitely not whispering but they fell a bit muted on her washing senses. Hermione heard Blaise chiding Draco but it was the last conscious thing she could recall because moments later, she'd fallen deep into a heavy slumber just as Blaise had promised.

* * *

><p>By the time she awoke, in a complete startled daze, she had completely no idea what time of the night it could possibly be. The room was pitch black in the night hours, making it hard to make anything out when Hermione shifted against the cushions. It took a moment but she finally remembered just where it was that she was but she quickly, also, became aware of Draco slack on the chair that he must have propped up beside the couch. Both of his legs were stretched out in front of him, crossing his ankles down to his bare feet and he had propped his head up against his fist but he was not awake in the slightest. Draco's elbow pressed into the arm of the chair as his other draped along the opposite, completely unaware of her watchful gaze as his chest rose and fell with his slow, deliberate breaths.<p>

Draco looked anything but comfortable with the way he was hunching in the overstuffed chair, however, even as peaceful as his mind seemed, and she couldn't image why he'd felt the need to stay there when he had a perfectly good bed in the other room. After all, she knew that first hand. The couch let out a soft creak when she shifted to move her hand up against his forearm, feeling him twitch awake with a wide hued glance around the room.

"What are you doing?" Hermione whispered to him in the darkness but Draco was still blinking the sleep out of his eyes, clearing his throat a bit as he planted his feet firmly on the ground.

"What? Nothing…sleeping. Like you should be. Go back to sleep, freckles." His lids began to slide closed once again, feeling his cheek press harder into the hold of his fist but Hermione patted his arm still.

"You look uncomfortable…don't you want to lay down?"

Draco shook his head at her, "I said I'm alright, freckles."

"Draco…would you just come lay down?"

He wanted to say something to her, something about anything really, but all Draco managed was a small slap of his hands to his thighs as they fell from his lifted shrug, unsure how to answer the underlining question on her face even in the dark shadows surrounding them. "Experience with you tells me that it will be less frustrating for me to stay right here."

There was a bit of exhaustion tracing heavily through Draco's clouded eyes as they darted around to nothing in particular, finding it hard to look at her so only resorting to folding his head down into his waiting palm once again as they lifted from his lap.

He hadn't heard her move towards him nor had he heard her lift from the couch and step around before his down casted gaze until she moved to slip her own hand beneath his own, feeling the heated flesh of his cheek while she drew closer. Draco's already alerted muscles twitched at the first instance of her touch, his body straightening a bit as she angled her face up to him while she bent at the waist but she said nothing. She just stared up at him, watching him with those sad, deep hues before her lashes flickered downwards, closing her lids while she ran the pad of her thumb along the apple of his cheek. Unlike last night when she had chosen to bring herself in such a close proximity with him, he sat still willing himself for the power to remain for he was fully sober with a single woman with nothing to hide behind.

"You said we should talk." Her lips brushed his chin with the softness in her voice, Draco finding his own hand betraying him as it moved to slip along the curve of her jaw, lacing his fingers loosely in the deep curls resting at the base of her neck.

"Yes, we should talk, freckles…" Her was finding it hard to watch her the way her breath was parting her lips like that, threatening to touch him.

"Ok..."

"Ok."

Hermione had nodded softly, a soft smile beckoning at the tip of her lips as he nodded back to her with his slack lids watching every shadow dance along her in the darkness. She'd nearly let out an involuntary noise when she felt his fingers tighten in her hair, angling her head up in the slightest. Hermione's lips parted just enough in her silent sigh to lean into him just as Draco leaned forward from his chair, abandoning the words he couldn't manage by capturing her lips in his own.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well, after all this angst, I thought it was about time to have Draco take what he wanted. Hope you like. Enjoy! :)<strong>_


	9. Chap 9

_**BE WARNED…THIS CHAPTER HAS A BIT OF SMUT IN THE BEGINNING.**_

_**IT'S TIME DRACO AND HERMIONE FACE THE MORNING AFTER, THEIR FRIENDS, AND EACH OTHERS. MUHAHA. ENJOY.**_

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><p><em>Draco's lips claimed her own with such precision that Hermione could only sigh into his mouth where she stood before him, bent forward to feel him drifting a motion towards the edge of his seat. His fingers were trailing slowly against the gentle curve of her neck, letting his lips break his kiss away from hers while he moved to lift up against his height, rising from the chair silently as he watched her watching him. Hermione felt her back involuntarily arch into him while he stood up to that height of his but he left his face close to her own, brushing her lips with the gentle curves of his own, tempting himself and her alike to feel them again in the silence that remained around them. <em>

_He stood so close to her she swore she could feel his pulse beating beneath his flesh but it was his words, so low in the air that did nothing to ease the bass through her own body. "We better talk…" It wasn't what he'd said that had Hermione fighting the urge to lift her sights up to him but the way he'd sounded so strangled to force them out of his mouth, like they'd been trapped on his tongue and it was the best he could do. Quite frankly, he sounded like a man attempting to keep his composure when he was moments away from losing it all._

"_Are you sure you want to have this conversation, Malfoy?" Hermione cursed herself mentally when she felt herself arch further in against his chest when he moved his hand to brush along the bend of her hip, smoothing his feather light touches around to rest at the low of her back. She was the one that got off the couch and moved over to him in the first place and now he had her fighting the urge to sigh out when he moved his mouth away from her to brush along the crescent shell of her ear, whispering smoothly against the shell with that classic smirk of his lacing into his words. _

"_I wasn't planning on having his conversation for another three months or so but you always have to be ten steps ahead of me, Granger..." Velvet lined words drawled lowly in against her, sending every miniscule hair against Hermione's skin standing on end but they shook entirely when he brought his lips to press down in the small space of skin just behind her ear as he breathed out, "You haven't exactly given me the time to lay the groundwork down here."_

"_Oh so you've had this all planned?" Hermione's eyes strained not to watch him as he drew an agonizingly slow trail of kisses down against her flesh, leaving a burning wave of heat to sink in against her in their wake while they slid down the column of her neck. _

"_No, I had a plan…you've made me revise. A lot." Draco's hand tightened while it splayed along her back, drawing her into him so easily she almost forgot she was the one allowing him to do it. He was touching her like a man who'd just been released from a forty year stay in an Azkaban cell, so entirely responsive to her body's small movements and her subconscious sighs of breath that she simply let herself rest against him, being pulled into the hypnotic energy that was Draco Malfoy. "Don't pretend to be angry. I know you want…"_

"_Doesn't matter what I want." Draco's words paused short, finding himself scoffing back a bit as she interrupted him, drawing her head back to stop his small exploration that was doing such a wonderful job at clouding her senses. "No one will understand. Hell, I'm still not sure I understand here, Draco."_

"_What can I say here, Granger?" Hermione swore she could almost see the storm in his eyes brewing but it was the storm, the actually storm that was raging on just outside the large, glass paned doors looking out into the city that really wasn't helping the dramatics of the situation as each crack of lightening flashed to illuminate Draco's chiseled, pristine features where he stood before her. "That I will brutally and savagely kill anyone that ever harms you? That I'll keep you safe, if that's what you want?" Hermione's small frown had yet to leave her face as he spoke to her softly, the rain outside beating heavily around the wide barrier he'd set over his balcony, "I would. I have been, I should say."_

"_Draco…"_

"_Tell me what I'm supposed to say here, Granger. I am horribly unprepared for this by your accord."_

_Hermione's slender fingers fell light on the sides of Draco's face, reveling in the simple dips as he spoke to her so sincerely but she couldn't help but tilt her head in the tints of that sad smile forming rigidly along the side of her mouth as she answered him. "I don't believe in promises, Malfoy."_

"_I'm not promising you anything, Granger…I'm telling you." That look on her face was beginning to make his own scrunch with the sight of it, lifting his single hand to run his thumb over the swell of her bottom lip as he sighed out, "I'm not promising to fix what he did to you, I can't, but I can tell you that I'm not him, thank Merlin, and I would devote my time to proving that to you. I'm telling you that I would do everything in my power to be what he couldn't…for you." _

_The skies were growing darker in the heat of the storm still raging strong as it sent its flashing booms of thunder cracking the sky just beyond them but Hermione felt pretty locked on the one before her. Her small hands slid down against the side of his neck, stretching her arms around them as she lightly pulled herself further into his taut frame, tilting her head up in the slightest. "What if I don't want that? What if I can't handle being in another…relationship? That is what you're getting at, aren't you? You want to be my boyfriend?"_

"_You want it too, Granger." Draco took an affirmative step back from her, leaving Hermione to gasp softly at the cold air rushing against her in his absence. Alright, this certainly was not going the way that he had intended but he hadn't intended any of it in the first place. At least not tonight! This conversation was going against everything he'd been raised into but even beyond that, he was still a Malfoy, and standing here practically begging this muggle born witch to be with him was leaving a rather putrid taste in his mouth. "You want to be with me. I know it, you know it, hell, and half the wizarding word knows it or at least suspects it now…"_

_Hermione only smiled at Draco's obviously rising irritation to her questioning but he was the one that said they should talk in the first place now wasn't he? She offered him an indifferent shrug before she let her hands drift behind her back, moving her fingers upward to take hold of the clasp of her dress. "What if I just want something less serious right now?" Draco's finger was pointing outright at her as she slid the length of the zipper down, feeling the material fall slack against her shoulders as either of his brows inched upwards, frozen in his distance. _

* * *

><p>"Hold the front door…" Ginny Weasley had a rather perplexed look etched on her face as her hands clasped around the nearly empty glass of wine that was swaying lightly against the barriers, "Beep beep…backing it up now…I'm following you on the whole <em>friendship<em> thing with Malfoy and I'm even following you up to the point that he's trying to date you but Hermione Jean Granger!" Her teeth flashed, unable to stop the bit of laughter spilling from her lips as she shook her head.

"Oh my God, Ginny, I know! I didn't know what to do! I mean…it's me and I've never really done anything with anyone except for…"

"And moving on again…" Ginny abruptly lifted her hand shaking it to quickly avert the subject as she set to lifting the glass to her lips. Auburn lashes fluttered down while she tipped her head back, smoothly taking a sip of the rich red liquid sweetly making its way down her throat. "I think I'd rather hear about you and Malfoy than anymore about you and Ron right now."

Both Ginny and Harry alike had been keeping a careful eye out for Hermione since she'd disappeared two nights ago but they'd waited patiently to let their friend come back in her own good time, with much persuading from Ginny that was. Two long days later, failing for any real answers from her slowly recuperating brother, Ginny had nearly jumped over herself when Hermione finally answered back her thirtieth owl. When she'd asked her to come for a drink, even at ten thirty in the morning, Ginny had not truly prepared herself for the things that Hermione had intended to spill but she rushed at the moment to understand just as much as she was sure Hermione was trying to do.

"I think I was just trying to see if he was serious." Hermione attempted to justify her rather seductive nature that seemed to fling forward in tempting Draco two nights ago but she wasn't sure who she was justifying them to: herself or Ginny. It'd already taken a bottle of wine for them to get to this point and they were both sitting a bit lopsided in their chairs, facing each other in Hermione's parent's kitchen with their elbows propped up and their hands clutching their liquid courage.

"If he was serious?" Ginny let out a strange laugh, doubling in the chair a bit with her volume echoing into the room. "Oh baby gremlins, Hermione…I'm pretty sure _everyone_ knew he was serious about you the second he bounced Ron's head off the linoleum tile."

Hermione let out a wince at the remembrance, brushing her fingers up to comb through the unruly bun of curls she's attempted to loosely pin on the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Gin. I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't want any of that to happen."

"Hermione, shut up." The pale toned red head still laughed through her words, uncrossing her long legs while she reached a crossed the table to clasp the neck of the wine bottle, pulling it into a better radius. "No one thinks you did. Well, I think you should have considering…" Ginny moved swiftly, just like the expressions on her freckled face as she poured the remaining liquid out into both her and Hermione's glasses, resting the bottom of the bottle down before she sighed out honestly, "…what Malfoy did won't compare to what Harry's going to do when he finds all this out."

When Draco had practically forced Hermione to get off of her butt and answer at least one of the nearly three dozen owls she had littering the ground in front of his fireplace, she'd found it far too hard not to analyze just which owl would be less…hostile, for lack of better words, for her to answer back but it seemed that Ginny was the outranking being, even if it was just a small margin in difference of points. She had expected Ginny to be upset with her, undoubting, but she knew that underneath all that surface rage of hers she'd find a way to hear the things she was saying, even if they didn't sink in right away but lucky for her, Ginny was mostly all ears.

Hermione expected that Ginny would be angry with her for breaking up the friendship all at the root of her and Ronald splitting up and she even expected that she'd be angry as hell that she'd been seeking friendship with Malfoy for comfort through it but Ginny just wasn't. She may have been a little confused, definitely disturbed but she wasn't angry. Hermione expected she'd be beyond upset with the way Draco had stuck Ronald in St. Mungo's for a night and she expected that she'd be hurt and bitter over the fact that Hermione had disappeared for over two days without so much as a 'How's he doing' or an 'I'm alright' but again, Ginny just wasn't. Ginny Weasley was simply outraged but she was a smart woman and her normally blood tied blinded eyes were wide open and finally pointing in the right direction, even if that wasn't Hermione's intentions.

In truth, Ginny wanted to be angry at the accusations that Hermione had first cracked a bottle of wine to unveil about her closest brother but the more Hermione talked, and the more wine the two of them downed, the worse Ginny's heart sank. How could she have been so blind? The words had burned into her head, crossing her signals between complete and utter anger directed to Ron and sheer heartbreak for her best friend but Ginny sat still, swallowing hard at her drink and prompting her on, trying to get everything out in the open now before they ever had to have a conversation like this again because at the end of the day it was Ginny that felt like complete and utter shit after this.

Ginny had completely awaited and prepared for Hermione to be angry with both her and Harry alike, not the other way around, when she'd set to come. They honestly deserved her to be angry with them, at least that's how Ginny felt. They'd thought she was lashing out and with the fragmented clues Malfoy had given them, both Harry and Ginny were afraid it was partially their fault but whose side do you run to first when this happens? How do you draw the sides and choose your supporter? None of that mattered now though because upon the Merlin's honest truth that had leaked from Hermione's eyes and lips, Ginny had already taken her spot beside her and she did not plan on abandoning her again when she'd already let her down so severely.

"So the amazing Hermione Granger goes on a mission to seduce the Slytherin Sex God…" Ginny lifted a slid smile onto her full lips, tilting her head with her attempt to shift the conversation once again from her wayward thoughts of moments she couldn't take back.

Hermione nearly choked on her wine at the title, swallowing hard before she could laugh a bit, trying to clear her throat all the while as she tried to make out, "Noo! I told you…it was strategy." She laughed again, settling her glass to the table while she wrapped her fingers along the stem as Ginny cocked her head, sending the long, straight waves of crimson down along her shoulders.

"So how did said strategy pan out, pray tell?"

* * *

><p>"<em>What are you doing, Granger?" She certainly had his attention.<em>

"_Answer me, Malfoy. What if I just want you? Not a boyfriend."_

"_Stop playing games." His tone was far more solid when she eased her arms out of the sleeve and straps of her dress, lightly holding it a crossed her chest as she watched him with that easy smile soft on her lips, mocking him with such feigned innocence as she once again commanded his response with that coy tone of hers._

"_Then answer me."_

_As irritated as she knew Draco truly was beneath it all, he waved a smirk against his hard features for her with a small shake of his head, lifting a single hand to drag along the scruff against his chin, scratching it absently before settling an answer against her. "Sorry, Granger. As much as I'm sure I would greatly enjoy being your little rebound fuck while you put yourself back together, I can't do it. Well, I'm not going to do it I should say."_

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><p>"Oh my fucking god!" Ginny's normally high pitched voice fell out more of a gasp then an actual sound but Hermione got the gist of her thoughts from the way she was seated with both of her elbows pressed into the table while she weaved her fingers into her hair. "This is time number two now?"<p>

"Yes." Hermione nodded in confirmation, laughing as she literally held up two of her fingers to keep track of the count that she had indeed been rejected physically by the one and only Draco Malfoy but for none of the reasons he so previously would have in the last six or seven years.

"Man…and I thought the tabloid stories about you two were good. Ok, ok, ok, so what'd you say? Tell me you punched him again."

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><p>"<em>Why not?" She sounded a bit incredulous that he was so adamant against the idea but she never lost that sweetness she'd painted on her face, swaying on her hips, allowing the open fabric to rest low along her hips, just threatening to fall and truly reveal herself in any real way to him. "If you didn't want me, Malfoy, then you wouldn't be standing all the way over there. Fighting it."<em>

_Draco's eyes drifted down to his feet before really noticing the distance he'd moved back from her gravitation but he only frowned at the implication when he'd realized she was correct, never daring to lift his eyes to her as he admitted coarsely, "Because I. Want. You. What part of that do you not understand?"_

_It wasn't supposed to happen like this. She was supposed to have been long since over the moron Weasley by the time he'd set out to talk to her. Weasley wasn't supposed to put his filthy hands on her and Draco wasn't supposed to be in the position to be a jealous asshole and beat the living hell out of him in anger but like he'd said, she was always ten steps ahead of him, leaving him scrambling over his feet just trying to catch up. Everything with Granger was like being on speed. Everything moved at a hundred miles a minute when she was in his presence and to him, it felt like he was still looking for the safety belt three seconds before impact. _

_She didn't laugh, she didn't giggle…she simply smiled that coy little smile of hers when her arms fell to her sides, letting the dress slip to pool against the bottom of her bare feet, quirking her head to eye him with the waves of her hair sliding down against her shoulders to cover the bare swell of her breasts. Draco groaned out loud, dropping his head forward to a single hand before shaking it at the ground, "That's not playing fair here, Granger."_

"_What's the matter, Draco? Afraid you're making the wrong decision here?" Seduction may not have been Hermione Granger's strong suit nor was it something she had ever really attempted to put herself in charge of before but she certainly seemed to be holding her own at least by the reaction Draco was having trying not to look at her. Hermione slowly stepped from inside the ring of fabric at her feet, placing a single pad of a foot down to slide it back and away from its hindering, watching him in subtle amusement as he downright refused to look at her now entirely. He just stared at the space on the floorboards between their feet, rubbing his temple numbly as she motioned closer to him, her steps pausing at his words starting up._

"_Do you understand how long…No." By the time Draco lowered his hand to his side, lifting his gaze upwards, she was still standing with a few feet in front of him with her hands resting low along her hips, staring at him in challenge but unfortunately for Draco, she was standing there clad in nothing but a pair of thin, pale pink knickers, toying with its band with her fingertips as she watched him completely losing his rant. Draco sighed out a harsh breath into the room, lowering his face down to her to ensure she understood before he continued, "Granger, I'm going to need you to put some clothes on now. I am trying to talk to you here." _

_Hermione only laughed at his statement, the lengths of her curls bouncing over the bronzed span of her skin while she too shook her head at his discomfort. "You have my attention, Draco…I'm pretty certain I have yours."_

_This was __not__ going as planned in the least. "You have had my undivided attention for years, freckles." If she really, truly wanted to have this conversation now, like this, then so be it. Draco was not a fan of her interrogation techniques but what could she honestly do to him right now that hadn't already been done? "I have wanted you for a very long time." _

"_Let me get this all straight. You wake up one day and decide that you want me but continue treating me like scum? This has a familiar ring to it."_

"_No, Merlin, Granger, would you let me talk?" Hermione lifted her hands defensively, rolling her eyes at his raise in temper. "I've watched Weasel trip over himself to get close to you and I've watched you wait…I found it all so childish that someone who was so obviously in love with someone else could stare at them every day and never say a word."_

_Hermione was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable all of the sudden. She really wasn't honestly sure what she had expected to come out of his mouth but he never failed to surprise her. "I'm not really following you here, Malfoy, but you're starting to sound like a stalker." _

"_I pretty much have stalked you, Granger." His voice almost laughed out, almost, as he held his palms out to her, watching her shoot him that look of mocking disbelief as she slid her back to him, moving her feet forward through the room as he continued. "For a long time I thought I just wanted you, that he was just a coward who would never deserve you because he didn't have to guts to tell you in the first place and you would see that but you never did." Hermione's small hands slid up the smooth glass panes making up his large balcony doors when her feet slowed in front of it, feeling the cold sensation filling her palms to cool the heat racing in her body but she never turned her head to him as she spoke to the nothingness outside._

"_Draco, I'm sorry you didn't fancy the way Ronald and I got together but so far you're not making a very good case here. Ron and I should have nothing to do with you and me." That sounded way too strange. _

"_Granger…" His voice fell in the room with warning, the scowl in his face evident long before she'd angled her head over her shoulder to gaze loosely at him. How exactly did he explain this to her? Hell, how did he say any of this to her sober? He knew he was doing an awful job getting a crossed what it was he was trying to say here but he never really wanted to say it in the first place. He hadn't wanted to admit it to himself in the first place!_

_Everything he had said so far was true, however. He had watched her. The entire time that idiot ran around making a mess out of her life, telling himself that even she was above that and then she went and proved him wrong by becoming what everyone always said they would be. At first he was angry for the sheer fact that he wanted her, physically at least, because he was a man after all and that was simply natural…or whatever but she went and flipped the script, changing everything the night that still remained lodged in his brain. _

_Draco had wanted to plead for her that night. He wanted to save her. He wanted to take her pain away while she screamed in agony but he stood paralyzed, doing nothing, just listening to her try not to break in his own home where he'd been born and raised to hate her. It was the single worst thing he'd ever done. Standing there, understanding for the first time in his life that his feelings for Granger weren't about making her a notch in his belt, realizing the underlining root for his border line obsession and not being able to do a fucking thing about it. _

"_I've been the coward." Draco scoffed a bit at the words leaving his lips but they had Hermione turning slowly on her heels, her eyes locked against him. "I don't deserve to be with you anymore than he did, you're right about that."_

_Draco was spouting out a lot of things but unfortunately they were a bit hazy to her while he attempted to fragment his thoughts together out loud and it was leaving Hermione with far too many emotions. Draco wasn't looking much better off as he ran his long fingers through the short strands of peroxide blonde hair for the hundredth time, turning his eyes coldly from her own as she moved to face him. "When did all of this dawn on you?"_

_He gave a short chuckle, almost amused but so darkly and deeply not at the core but he shrugged out his answer to her none the less. "Listening to you cry. In my house. Under the hands of my family… because I watched him cover his ears. That's when it all dawned on me, as you put it." Hermione wasn't sure exactly if Draco was referring to Ron but she had a sick feeling in her stomach it was at the sneer on his face as he turned away from her, moving off into the room in search of something to distract himself with. "I realized that if I were him at that moment that I would have lost my mind but I would have removed every single one of their organs in alphabetical order at the first moment's chance. I realized I was angry that I wasn't him and that I, knowing how I felt, still could do nothing to save you. It wasn't my place to take vendetta for you. I had no right and no power."_

_Did Draco Malfoy just admitted he had no power? Was this the apocalypse? Hermione nearly turned an eye back to the balcony to check for horsemen but she stood eyeing him instead. As much as she could see his side of things, Draco still had no right to be angered by her being with Ron nor did he have any right to be angry about a situation that was long since over. As much as her situation with Ron had failed miserably, she still loved the man and despite Draco finding their courtship so pathetically immature, Hermione still found it all sweet and a bit innocent. They were each other's first love. Those were, after all, some of the only decent memories she had of that relationship to hold on to. _

"_If you would have told her to stop she would have only made it worse…"Hermione answered absently, not really sure why she was attempting to comfort him at the moment._

"_I know that, doesn't mean I'm not a coward. Had I admitted my feelings for you long before that, you wouldn't have been there in that situation in the first place. I imagine that is one of the single worst moments of your life, Granger, and I hate that I was a part of it because it certainly is one of mine." _

_The thoughts of Bellatrix always left a horrible chill lining her and she'd be lying if she didn't say that she wasn't haunted by the woman once in an odd night. It truly had been one of the worst things she'd ever had to face, alone, waiting to die but she'd spent a lot of time trying to move past it with the reaffirming thoughts that she was dead and Hermione certainly was not. It didn't stop the memories but it was enough for her to move on. Draco, however, looked like he wanted to hang himself with the thoughts passing his mind, finally turning to face her with his wand and an unlit cigarette loosely clad in his grasp._

"_It would drive me to the point of insanity to watch you grow wounded over another fucking jack ass, Granger, so the only solution I can draw from that is for me to be that jack ass. Only way I can control the jack assery…" Draco thrust the butt of his cigarette into the part of his lips, giving his wand a small shake to ignite the tip in a fierce red glow, lifting it with the intent to light the stick as he mumbled out, "I don't expect that to have made any sense to you."_

_The end of Draco's cigarette sparked with a heavy glow flashing up inside the darkness of the room, inhaling slowly in a rush of burning embers. His lips parted around their hold to ease a thin line of silver smoothly into the air before he moved to toss his wand back off into the chair he'd previously occupied, scoffing a bent look her way as she countered, " What about my friends? They don't trust you. They'll never trust you."_

"_You trust me so what does it matter?" Just because he cared about her didn't mean he suddenly gave a fuck about her whole blasted crew. Draco easily slid the cigarette from his mouth, waving it lightly with a turn of his wrist, "If they're really your friends, they'll figure it out and accept it because they're your friends, no?"_

"_The paparazzi will be on us like flies on honey…" She'd tilted her head to the glass before she'd moved her body to face it once again, watching the rain slowing over the balcony from her split distance between Draco and the outside._

"_More like vultures on a corpse but what's new?" The tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she felt him nearing her long before his hand moved to brush over her hip, sliding over top the bone to rest flatly over the surface of her bare stomach as he stepped in behind her. "Probably the nicest article anyone's written about me in years. Besides, I think you look rather nice on me." _

_Why was she honestly surprised that he had an answer for everything she'd said? This was Draco Malfoy, after all, but that was the problem here wasn't it? He made everything seem so simple, so easy, so capable but the reality was not so sweet and deep down she knew that. Draco made her feel easy, relaxed, and even able to numb herself to her normal annoyances a bit but this entire thing that he was asking of her was not remotely that simple and she swore that all his debating here was his own way of talking himself into it as well._

"_What if I say yes? What if I say ok, what then?" Draco's fingers stretched a bit when she placed her hand down against his own, feeling him lace them into her own fingers before he rested his chin against the crook of her neck, speaking that dragging tone into the bend._

"_Then we can be like this, freckles. Just like this."_

"_It's not that simple."_

"_Yes, it really is." Alright, he knew it wasn't but he was pretty sure it was going to take a lot more than himself to take Hermione Granger, and the Golden Trio down in a ball of fire. "This isn't a school romance, dear; this is a real life relationship we're talking about. We go out, we have dinner, we socialize, and you have a password to my loft…we go on holiday, Christmas with the family…This is not sneaking around after curfew and charming bed posts here. This is not where Hogsmede is the only place you frequent to be alone. Again, real life here."_

_Hermione had to laugh a bit at the scowl on his face as she watched his reflection blurring in the glass where he stood behind her tightly. He was right, unfortunately and perhaps that was why Hermione was so attached to spending the amount of time she had been with him in the first place. She'd loved Ron all through school but it was adolescent in the plain sense. Yes, they'd had sleep over's for lack of better explanation but mostly a long list of sneaking around and always looking over their shoulders. Things were a bit different now, at least people saw them all differently, after the war. They were adults in the eyes of the triumphant side of the wizarding world and you couldn't exactly step back from that. _

"_I'm not giving you an ultimatum here, Granger." Without warning, Hermione pulled her body, hand and all, away from him, the pads of her feet moving her swiftly to the door. She pressed her palm down into the curved brass handle with ease, pushing it open and into the noise that echoed above her as she stepped out onto his green oasis, sighing a much needed breath out into the fresh air. Chocolate orbs waved up to watch the peaceful destruction of the storm still raging on, sending waves of rain down on the barrier around her so loudly that she'd entirely missed Draco stalking out onto the balcony after her, not that she was too surprised, however, but she spoke first before he had his chance again._

"_You are too. Either I say I'm yours or you're gone. That's pretty much a great example of an ultimatum. As a matter of fact…I'm going to write to have that used as an example in the next detailed encyclopedia."_

_Draco never bothered to shut the door behind him as he trailed out after her, standing before her as she watched the flashing lights sparkle along sky, speaking to him without a glance. "No…I am asking you to say you'll be mine but regardless of your answer, I'm not going anywhere." Hermione was fully and well prepared with a haughty response as she folded her arms with such disbelief over her chest but he was much quicker to reiterate what he meant. "I can be your friend and attempt to take a back seat there but I can't be physical with you unless I know it's something more…to you. I know where I stand." _

"_And that's really what you want?" _

_How many times did he have to tell her before she finally got it through that curly little head of hers? For the brightest witch of their time and probably many before, as much as he hated to admit, she was sure having a hard time with this concept. He had never wanted the things he wanted from Granger with anyone before and he had never wanted the things that he wanted to give to Granger before either so standing here trying to convince her to let him felt very much like being alone in a foreign country without knowing a single lick of native tongue. No, it was a bit worse than that. It was more like an alien planet. Yes, that sounded much more fitting to him. "I've spent my whole life doing whatever it is I please. No restrictions…I go out when I please, I come home if I want, and I've shagged and dated whoever I decided…"_

_The life of a bachelor…Hermione had only read or watched others enjoy its benefits before she met, truly met, Draco. Draco had lived his entire lifespan like a twenty five year old millionaire playboy and all before the age of eighteen. He was so independent and open to everything and she couldn't help but admitting that she loved the taste of it, well, minus the playboy part. Hermione too could be a completely carefree adult when she found herself in his presence. He allowed her the open space to do and be whatever she felt like without guideline and restrictions…that is, aside from the major one that they were so scantily debating. "Not exactly understanding why you want to give that all up."_

"_No, no…" Draco shook his hand and head simultaneously as he plucked the lit cigarette from his mouth, huffing a thin line of silver smoke eerily through the space, "I am quite content with my life but I seem to be happier sharing it in your company while living it versus the alternative so yes, in answer, that is really, truly what I want." _

* * *

><p>Why couldn't this have been Theo Nott or even Blaise Zabini that she was talking about here? Why couldn't this man be Ron? Why couldn't Ron have been the good man in this? Ginny fought the urge to sadly sigh out, shaking the thoughts from her head. "Tell me that you said yes."<p>

"Ginerva Weasley!" Hermione's wide grin pulled a slight tinge of pink over her cheekbones, watching the dreamy look lost on her best friends face while she was unable to hide the romantic in her. "Remember this is Draco here."

"Don't care right now…too awesome…"

* * *

><p>"<em>Ok." She said it just like that. Flat and absent of any real vibrant emotion like she so normally was. Hermione simply gave him a nod of the head, her arms still strewn over her chest with her weight shifted along a single side of her hip while it jutted out at her side. <em>

"_Ok? Was that a yes, freckles?" The ash from Draco's cigarette fluttered down to the stone tiles that made up the floor of his balcony as he took a hesitant step closer to her with the both of them drawing their brows in careful deliberation while Hermione eased around to face him. _

"_Yes, ok, Draco. I'll be your girlfriend." Draco moved another step, watching her ever still beneath his careful eye as her spine lifted, straightening her posture as she boldly strung out, "...but I won't be made a fool of." _

"_Would have been a fool to say no." Within seconds of the words leaving his lips, Draco was on her. Hermione let out a short gasp as he moved to press her back into the stone railing, his hand bracing around the edge with his other clutching into her hair as he stole the sound from her mouth with his kiss. Draco silenced any more discussion on the matter with the intoxication of his mouth pressing into her own, leaving her shuddering at the contact of his tongue brushing softly over her lips to beckon entrance._

_What was she doing? She had just agreed to be Draco Malfoy's new woman and now she was standing in nothing but her knickers on his balcony, practically purring under the sensations he was sending through her body as she attempted to claw at his shirt. Hermione should have felt embarrassed, she really wanted to, but she couldn't think of a single reason why with the way Draco was tangling his hands in her hair, his breath heavily panting beneath the bone of his chest against her while he let his mouth fall a trail of open mouth kisses down the column of her neck. Her entire body felt like it had been set on fire, burning against the wake of his hands that seemed to roam her skin everywhere except where she truly needed him. _

_The pearled rows of Draco's teeth brushed the against the bare skin of her shoulder, growling lowly from the back of his throat as he bit the tender flesh softly, listening to her soft moans lacing the air around them. Draco rolled his shoulders; reaching back to jerk the material of his shirt off, aiding Hermione with the task that was growing so difficult for her with his mouth on her like that._

_It hadn't been like this with Ron…Hermione remembered every awkward smile and blush creeping over her every time he even touched her in the remotest way but now she wrapping her legs around Draco, straining to feel the hard length of him pressing against her center while she half perched herself on the ledge, dipping her head back when she felt his mouth fall along the exposed curve of her breast. His fingers didn't quiver like Ron's had the first time he was close with her nor did he apologize repeatedly for fumbling nervously. Draco simply clung to her, wrapping her legs around his waist, savoring the taste of her, lost in the touch of her, feeling her squirm with the anticipation he left flashing her nerves on end with a bizarre composure considering his stance only minutes before._

_This woman had damn near been running around half naked in his apartment for half of a week. She'd cuddled up in bed beside him, pressed her body against him, touched him far closer than any normal friendship really should allow and even attempted to kiss him at one point prior to this and the entire length of that time Draco had managed to say no all for the bigger picture. Now…well, now he had no excuses to hide behind. Now Draco had no reason to say no to the witch who was dragging her nails down the expanse of his back, leaving him hissing against her mouth and along the heavy pants of breath she was emitting back. _

_Draco honestly couldn't imagine, nor did he truly want to, what Weasley and Hermione's sex life had been but he couldn't quite understand why anyone would feel the need to slag around with scum with the way Hermione was moaning into his mouth. Her tongue pressed against his rhythmically as she molded her mouth into his kiss, her small fingers fighting with the button of his pants between their bodies while she clutched at the short platinum blonde strands. He thought of this moment more times than he'd honestly liked to admit and he'd been fully prepared to take every amount of time necessary to let his hands fully explore the unbelievable body that his eyes had been staked on for far too long but she was making things a bit difficult for that._

_Hermione's chest was pressing hard into his own, feeling that terrible rhythm in her chest beating back against him, her hips grinding against him with those slender legs wrapped around him fully but Draco couldn't help but smirk against her mouth as she became so frustrated over her failing attempts to rid him of his pants with all of the commotion. Draco's pants fell to the floor at his feet with a soft thud when he wrapped his arms tightly along her, jerking her atop of him and off from the railing in one swift movement._

_Hermione let out a small yelp, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck, her thighs wrapped tightly around him, shivering at his ever wandering touch. Every touch he made against her, every motion, and every sound was completely precise. He moved his hands against her so slowly she swore her flesh would melt from the bone in their absence and all she could do was lower her lids and let her head tip back as his mouth and hands moved against her in a way she knew she hadn't been truly touched in a long time…if ever. She needed him in a way she was sure she'd never really been aware of until now but she swore she'd die if he didn't do something soon._

_He'd never stopped touching her, never stopped kissing her, when he somehow managed to toss over the large wicker couch he'd had resting upright against the back railing, never bothering to watch the cushions cascade themselves in a littering heap on the floor in front of them before he'd tossed them both on top of them. Again, not where he'd intended on this happening but he really wasn't about stopping at the very moment, especially with the way her hair had fanned around her face, her face flushed with those dark eyes staring at him so heatedly._

* * *

><p>Ginny's hand was fanning in front of her face; her arm strewn over the back of the metal chair with her body slumped in the seat as she whistled out a long breath. "I don't even have words right now." Hermione didn't have words then either but she was pretty sure that Ginny listening to her talk about sex with Draco was pretty similar to Ginny talking about sex with Harry: Horribly amused and completely disturbed all at the same time. "Tell me it was amazing. It was amazing, wasn't it?" Hermione could offer her nothing more than the same slightly blushed, awkward smile she was already holding pinned on her face, leaving Ginny to drop her head with a small shake as she softly muttered, "Of course it was amazing."<p>

Ginny remembered all too well her first time with Harry and she also remembered all too well Hermione and Ron's first time, much to her distaste. First kisses were always one thing but someone's first time together always said a lot, at least to her. There were a lot of questions to ask yourself afterwards in Ginny's opinion and while Harry was and would be, if she had anything to do with it, the only man she'd ever be with, she'd been the lending ear for far too many stories not to draw any conclusions. Were you nervous or were you excited? Was he passionate or scared? Did he whisper to you or did he mumble to you? You know…little questions that seemed so tiny but ones that seemed to make the difference.

"Harry almost went back to Malfoy's apartment to look for you that morning…Merlin, am I happy he didn't right now."

"Yeah, two Gryffindor's and a Slytherin in the ward before school is even in session might not look so well on my term sheet as Head Girl." Leave it to Hermione to always think of her marks, even as she attempted to make her way through what was the morning disaster that followed the night of confessions.

* * *

><p><em>The sun was stretched high over the city long before Hermione had felt her body begin to stir. A soft sigh slid from her lips at the warmth of it basting down on her skin, leaving her limbs stretching out, feeling much like a cat waking from a rather peaceful slumber but the hindering of her body being practically weighed down left her cocking an eye open much sooner than she would have liked.<em>

"_Draco..." She really didn't know why she'd said his name but the moment it left her lips she'd wished it wouldn't have. Either eye sharply darted open, her body shifting to sit up a bit to take everything back in. No, it certainly hadn't been a dream…because Hermione was still lying, completely naked, on a pile of cushions and pillows next to a very much also naked Draco Malfoy who was still tangled against her body. His head was buried in the crook of her neck, the arm that had been wrapped a crossed her chest sliding slack down against her waist in her quick movements. _

"_What, freckles?" Hermione flinched once again, her attention moving down to him, startled by his low words but he never moved a muscle, never even bothered to lift his head up or move a finger while she stared. Damnit. He was awake._

"_Is the world ending?" _

"_What?" Again, Draco didn't move a muscle, his breath warm against her collar bone, leaving an involuntary shiver creeping up her flesh as he cleared his throat and tried again._

"_Is the world ending?"_

"_No…"_

"_Are we under attack?"_

_Hermione scoffed back a smile, shaking her head despite the fact he wasn't even looking at her, "No."_

"_Is Potter here?" At that she had to stifle a laugh, cocking her head as his slender digits curled against her waist, his body relaxing further into her._

"_No, Draco, it's just you and me."_

"_Mm…then shush, freckles. Back to bed with you." The entire conversation could have been had in his sleep, as a matter of fact, Hermione wasn't entirely sure he hadn't had it in his sleep because he never once opened an eye to her even when he ignored her groan of protest while he slid her body into the pillows, wrapping her arm around himself comfortably._

_She wanted to feel ashamed of herself a bit, laying there, feeling his legs wrapping against her own but she couldn't. Draco's hands were splayed flatly against her skin, holding her against him far too different than the way she was getting used to with him. As much as she wanted to fear the real Malfoy rearing his ugly head, she wanted to remain completely blinded and subdued by whatever he was now. Before last night, lying with Draco was calming, unlike lying with Ron which always felt suffocating and then always distant, but now he held her like he'd meant every word that had fallen from his lips in the night hours. _

_Hermione let out a soft groan while she stretched once again, lengthening herself where she rested on her side pressed against him, resting in his arms, "Draco I think I need a shower…and coffee…definitely a shower."_

"_Definitely coffee." Draco conquered with a small nod into the crook of her neck, feeling a much needed urge for caffeine if she was going to keep on with it. Without warning, Draco's ever bright eyes shifted open as he popped his head up, moving to narrow his gaze down against her with a sudden question forming on his face, "You want to go to a bistro? I know this place…what?" _

_Hermione couldn't help the awkward expression forming over her tired face. It sounded like a great idea but…"I don't think giving the paparazzi more reason to print about us right now is such a good idea." Draco's arms slid their warmth from around her, lifting his body a bit to lean back against his palm pressing down into the cushions so he could address her better while he attempted to rub the strain from his eyes._

"_So I can get you to agree to be mine but only in secret?" She offered a small wince to him, shifting her body up onto her elbows while he shook his head at her nonverbal answer, moving to toss his arms over his knees as he sat up entirely. "You're killing me here, Granger."_

"_Draco, come on…" If she had any doubts formerly that Draco was insincere about wanting to be with her before, well, she was retracting them all now. He was acting like a sullen child, a bit bitter while he attempted not to look so downright annoyed with her. Hermione found herself sitting upright with him when he moved to climb to his feet, letting her voice calmly slide into the air, "Not a secret, ok, well maybe a little secret but I need a little time to explain things to my friends. They're already suspicious enough."_

"_Yes, your precious friends…Well, whatever then." Draco barely offered her a glance of expressions a crossed the broad span of his shoulder back at her as he dismissively waved a hand, stalking inside of his apartment through the doors they'd never bothered to shut in their destruction last night. _

"_Draco!" Hermione called after him but he never said a word, moving into his kitchen with that same shake banging his brain around like it normally did when he was around the witch who was now stomping her way after him, completely nude, with a halo of unruly curls framing her wild look. "Can't you just give me a little time? Are you really that big of a brat that you can't understand this?"_

_A little time? He'd given her years already…"I said whatever, Granger. Have your bloody time. Tell your bloody friends." Those pale tiers of his were pursed into a hard line as he attempted to busy his hands while she stared holes into his back. "So fucking difficult…I was serious about the instruction manual. Seriously, look into it."_

"_They are my best friends, Draco and I need to explain to them in my own words before things get really out of hand." Draco had a feeling everything with her was always out of hand. As a matter of fact, he really couldn't recall many situations where she wasn't causing, solving, or creating trouble. _

"_I said ok, Granger. I told you I want to be with you, don't think I don't understand that it comes with certain…baggage." Draco had been busy moving around the kitchen, finding a cigarette and setting to make the coffee while Hermione stood rigid with her fists buried in her hips, watching him as he agonized over that last word._

"_Then why are you being so moody?" Draco let the kettle fall with a loud clank to the stove, never watching the flames ignite as he tapped his fingers to the burner, turning slowly to scowl against her for her choice in words._

"_I am not moody, dear. I am annoyed."_

"_Then why are you annoyed, dear." Hermione's folded her arms against her chest as she slowly drew out the pet name he'd just dawned on her. _

"_You're like a shiny present for me, Granger." Hermione rolled her eyes fiercely, shaking her head at his poor choice in explanation but he held his finger up in attempt to continue before she turned and ran like he was so used to her trying to do. "I know what's inside you; I know what you are because I've been staring at you in the window for a long time, wanting you. For a week I've had it and I haven't even been able to touch it!" _

_Hermione moved around him with little amusement, moving towards his cupboards in attempt to find a couple of cups, praying the coffee would hurry before she felt the need to throw the boiling water on Malfoy but he was bent to continue._

"_Now that I've finally gotten to open my present, and I do mean finally, and play with my toy, you want me to put it back in the box, wrap it up and hide it from everyone else? I think that's a bit unfair of you, don't you think?" _

_Ah, finally! Hermione plucked the glasses from the cupboard quickly, slapping the door shut before she clanked either cup down on the counter. "It's not like we can't be seen together, Draco. I just meant that I didn't think it wise to go out being too dramatic."_

"_Would you quit underestimating me, for maybe like a second? That'd be super swell of you." His hand once again smoothed over her stomach but his body was a bit behind, moving to grab the kettle and set to finishing them up a cup. His breath was subdued in his half slumber, tossing a few packets inside the kettle where he'd rested it on the counter beside him, trying to beckon her to face him as he moved to slide between her and the counter."I can…behave I just don't know how long you expect me to wait here without punching a hole in Weasel's head again."_

"_I'll tell them before we leave for Hogwarts."Those ever pale brows of his rose swiftly at her response, satisfied as she turned to face him fully, resting her arm along his chest with a single shoulder shrug, "Can you not be a prat for three days?"_

* * *

><p>"That was two days ago?" Hermione laughed a bit as she glanced over her shoulder to Ginny as she tapped her finger in a line backwards on the table, trying to keep everything straight in the story that was so entirely twisted that she was having a hard time keeping it together.<p>

"Yes. _First_ morning after."

"Meh, could have went worse, I suppose. I mean, it is Malfoy. He could have set you on fire." Hermione let out a loud laugh, covering her mouth to stop the fit of giggles leaving her wide grinning lips while she completely ignored her task of opening another bottle of wine. "So you two hid out and shagged for two days straight?"

"No, no, yes but no…" Hermione was still laughing quite uncontrollably, holding her stomach as it cringed in the humor of it. With a few deep breaths and a few minor laugh spurts, Hermione managed to calm herself enough to make it through a complete sentence or two. "I mean, we did what we usually do when we're together. We just…hang out."

"Except now you hangout and shag."

"Well, yeah…stop saying it like that. You're making it sound so dirty!" Ginny laughed and held either of her hands out at Hermione's scowl as she made her way back to the table, holding the freshly uncorked bottle out to Ginny to inspect. "It was all different before…I don't know, Gin. It's like I told you, Draco wouldn't even remotely get intimate with me before that night but he was still always close in a sense. He's much of the same way now it's just he knows he can actually get…_close_ to me so he just seems so much more relaxed about everything."

Ginny's attention was shifting between the red parchment labeling the bottle and Hermione as she slid into her seat but she spoke either way even before she moved to grasp for Hermione's glass to fill it, "Witch Weekly said that you aparated to Malfoy's after you left the restaurant that night with Blaise and Malfoy but only one of you left. I really, at the time, thought it was a bunch of hoopla but good lord are those people thorough."

"Did you read the one where they actually posted a photograph of one of Draco's order in slips?"

"That was real?" Ginny's small hand smacked the table, her eyes widening as she sent a vibration to shake the contents of either of their full glasses now, nearly toppling the liquid straight over the rim. Hermione could only laugh, clasping her hand over the top of her own glass in efforts to keep the wine inside.

"Oh hell yes it was real. They took it from the trash. What? I really wanted noodles!"

Ginny motioned forward in her chair, carefully sipping the wine from the top to try and lower its contents while she gripped the edge of the table, "So where the hell is Malfoy now?"

At that Hermione frowned a bit, scrunching her mouth to the side as she sighed out, "Probably with Blaise. We have plans for dinner later but we leave for Hogwarts in a bit so I figured it was time to stop ducking my head and pop out with some answers."

"What's the matter?" Ginny cocked her head from behind her wine glass, brushing her hair from being such a nuisance on her shoulder as she watched the saddened expression wave over Hermione's face.

"You're my best friend, Ginny…it was hard enough trying to explain this all to you but I don't know how the hell I'm going to tell Harry."

Oh yes, that little detail…Ginny reached along the table and placed a reassuring hand over Hermione's while she cupped her other over her own cheek in thought. "I think its better that I tell Harry. It might give him a chance to take it all in before acting to rashly."

"Gin, you don't have to do that. It's my responsibility because this is all due to me."

"I think I should, Hermione. I owe you this much."

* * *

><p>"Trouble in paradise…Draco Malfoy not out of the dark side just yet? Page seventeen for details." Pansy cleared her throat before Blaise drawled on.<p>

"Wait, wait, I like this one…Former Death Eater woes War Heroine." There was a weak smirk dazing on his face before he slid out, still letting his dark eyes fall over the words, "Sounds so catchy. Really draws the reader in."

"I despise you both greatly at this moment."

"After suffering the pangs and break of an adolescent relationship, it seems that Hermione Granger had opted out of the grieving period and jumped straight into the arms of another! Ooh so spicy…" Pansy had to laugh a bit as she settled her issue of Witch Weekly down on the table, moving her hands to cup around her glass with a rather large smile tugging her full lips wide as she continued to skim through one of the many articles in the large stack of papers and magazines littering their small table. "After spending a controversial week being photographed with the infamous, recent Azkaban releasee, Draco Malfoy, the two continued to dodge this reporter's effort to get a comment whether or not they were romantically involved."

"Not one time did that hag try and contact me." Draco scowled as he too skimped no particular words, mildly gazing at a picture of Hermione bundling beneath the arm of Weasley with a sick fascination before he stamped his finger down on a rather large article on the page over from the one they'd all been previous chucking through. "No, wait, this is a good one…Malfoy on the run from Potter…again!" He raised his hands and shook his fingers for dramatic energy only to earn a low scowl from Pansy seated just around from him before she went right back to glancing for her personal favorites through the pile that never ceased to speak words about the big complicated mess he'd gotten himself into.

_Almost everyone in the wizarding world has heard the rumors of the famous Hermione Granger and infamous Draco Malfoy allegedly dating and the huge secrecy around the pair in the last few weeks but we didn't have to wait long for some answers. _

_While having dinner with friends, the one and only Harry Potter and Ginerva Weasley, Hermione Granger was surprised by not only her just recent ex, the love of her life, Ronald Weasley but also her new beau and current mate, Draco Malfoy! _

"_I was just sitting there having dinner with my sister and Malfoy just came in and bent berserk. It all happened so fast." Say Pavarti Patil, a classmate at Hogwarts. _

_Onlookers say that Mr. Malfoy became enraged upon seeing Miss. Granger chatting privately with Mr. Weasley when he arrived. A few words were exchanged but it was the many fists thrown after that which might just end the recently released Azkaban prisoner back into hot water. _

"I did not go crazy…" Draco protested lightly.

"Draco…" Pansy let out a curt laugh, flicking her bangs from her eyes as she gave her head a slight tilt, "Says here you fractured his eye socket…I didn't even know that was possible, to fracture an actual eye socket."

"Cracked it really. Took a pin and quite a bit of potions to keep his eye in but the swelling helped. Really not a fun healing process." The rather unfamiliar, but oh so familiar, voice left an uneasy pause at the table. "Malfoy…can we have a word?"

"Potter…wow, great timing." Leave it to Pansy to be ever so eloquent as she drew her sharply arched brows up with a curt nod in greeting to him where he stood awkwardly behind Draco, speaking to him with that intense gaze of his boring into the back of his head. Draco didn't say a word, letting his arm rest to the table surface as he slowly moved to angle himself, and his chair alike, to face Harry.

"We're both dressed this time, Potter so I can't see why not." Harry looked anything but amused, his lips firmly pressed together in a fine line, his face set firm but Draco remained easy, shrugging at the same motion Blaise mimicked back before he slowly pressed up from his chair. A single pale brow lifted upright while he set his eyes down from his height over Harry, "Shall we?"

Harry couldn't help but keep those emerald eyes locked against Draco's casual smirk, never wavering a bit, when he made move to stalk a little further through the tavern, stepping a move or two beyond the large staircase before he rounded back with a simple question leaping from his lips like he'd been dying to say it for an eternity, "What are you playing at here, Malfoy?" Draco had barely finished following him, absentmindedly watching the walls and glancing back to Pansy and Blaise as they leaned from their chairs to watch before Harry sharply whirled with the third degree, leaving him halting a bit on his heels.

"Playing at? You asked me for a word, Potter. What are _you_ playing at?"

"You know what I mean. With Hermione! What are you trying to do?"

All he could do was laugh, lifting a hand with a small shrug as he admitted so unconcerned with the words, "Date her I suppose. Your turn. What's your favorite color?"

"Malfoy knock it off! Tell me the truth!"

"I bet it's Gold, isn't it?" Harry looked like he was ready to have an aneurysm with the way that vein was bulging in his forehead. Yes, it seemed this did come with its perks but at whose expense? Draco sighed wearily, scratching the pads of his fingers against the peroxide white strands, "Give me the serum and be on with it then. I'm not lying to you…this time."

"Why?"

"Why what, Potter? Why am I not lying to you now or why am I trying to date her?"

"Both you wanker!"

"Firstly, have you seen her? I mean really, Potter, have you ever looked at her?" The look on Draco's face was dumbfounded to say the least, staring at Harry as he counted through his fingers, placing one up at each phrase. "Secondly, have you ever met her? Had a real conversation with her? And again, back to number one…look at her!"

Harry wanted to smack the words out of his mouth but the awkward twitch at the corner of Draco's mouth had him holding back his rising anger for a sheer moment longer. "Look, Potter, I have no motives here and I don't really have a reason to lie to you but I've told you all this before. She is the only thing I have to gain from this. She's the only thing I have to lose."Harry shook his head harshly, unable, or unwilling to grasp the words that Draco was unveiling with such nonchalance that he could have been telling him the weather forecast. "I really could give a flying fuck what you and your lot think of me, Potter, but she does so therefore I'm telling you the truth."

"You broke up a perfectly good relationship to get your own selfish needs off?"

"Watch your mouth." Harry flinched his expressions back at Draco's sharp reprimand for even hinting to Hermione slagging around with him before he narrowed a finger and his gaze against him, "There was nothing good and pure about the so called relationship between Hermione and the Weasel but as much as I would have loved to be the reason she left his sorry ass, alas, I am not." Well, Draco didn't mean that part one bit but he figured what Potter didn't need to know and wasn't going to be told wouldn't kill him.

"Then why, Malfoy?" Draco sighed rather abruptly, shifting his weight on his heels as he suddenly felt the strain weighing in on him. Harry was starting to sound like a record on repeat and he was wishing it was more of a background noise than the stereo it was playing in. With one hand planted firmly on his hip, Draco made motion to a passing waitress for a round of drinks he was sure he was going to need before he roughly scraped out his words over his shoulder to the hard emerald glare emitted back at him.

"Because Weasley's been shagging Lavender Brown every which way since Sunday for about a year now." He opened his palm to Harry, his blonde brows rose as he questioned, "There, are you happy?" Harry didn't look happy. No, Harry looked truly shocked but so did the waitress who was quickly averting her eyes after taking the order and ducking her head to slink off as quickly as she could muster.

"Hermione said that Ron left to _be_ with Lavender…not that he was_ with_ Lavender." There was a rather curious look on Harry's face as he pondered out the statement to himself more than to Draco. He knew the whole thing sounded far too off but for the sake of Hermione, he let her quietly mumble her way through her side of the break up.

"I bet she did…" Draco rolled his eyes with a bit of a scoff, moving to fold his arms along his chest with a quick wave of irritation bubbling beneath the surface. "She's ever so polite, that one. Sure she didn't tell you about the nights she spent sobbing in a corner either in that perfect little romance but hey, what do I know? I'm the big bad liar over here."

The moment Draco said it; Harry felt a heavy weight fall to the pit of his stomach. He wasn't exactly sure what he meant but he had a sinking suspicion he knew far too well exactly what he was saying. "She doesn't need to be saved."

"Don't want to save her. Don't need to but I will if necessary if you morons won't. _Again._" Where the bloody hell was that waitress?

"Why'd you do it, Malfoy? Really…"

"Listen to me, Potter…" Draco gave up his absent minded search for an alcoholic relief and took a looming step forward as he narrowed his words against his rival for years, "Granger and I have nothing to do with Weasley but I will cut him, you, and anyone else down that stands in the way of that. We clear there?" Harry hadn't said anything, watching Draco darkly in an all too familiar stance under the dark rim of his glasses. "I have no more reason to fight with you but I will gladly destroy everything you know and love if you stand in my way. It's your move…"

* * *

><p>"No really, Hermione…Let me do this much for you." Hermione was fully prepared to move down the list of more reasons why Ginny didn't need to feel obligated to do such a tremendously stressful task but the sudden clicking sounding loudly erupting into the room stole her away from her denial completely. The two girls jumped from their seats, jerking up to their nearly wobbling feet at the first intrusion of noise, alert, and prepared for any action. Out of the silence echoing back came the sharp clanking noise once again, banging like a faint knocking somewhere far off in the room, leaving them both to glance around in answer to the disturbance .<p>

"Oh lord, Hermione…it's the bleeding post." Ginny let out a curt snort at their quick movements all for nothing before she stalked forward to the sill over the kitchen sink so she could attempt to stop the racket. It took her a moment to unhinged the old locks but she managed to press the windows open, moving back swiftly as a rather lengthy owl stretched its purely white wings wide, dipping inside in one swift, eloquent movement to drop the rather large package down against Hermione's table directly between their glasses before slipping back to the sill to tuck it's wings around itself like it'd never moved a muscle.

As much as Hermione should have rushed to thank the bird like she normally would, she couldn't help but eye the cascade of black paper that wrapped the box so tightly where it was resting a few feet from her grasp. Thankfully, Ginny was far more abiding to Hermione's normally strict guidelines on the well treatment of animals and creatures because as Hermione stood rigidly watching the box, waiting for it the ignite, blow up, of spew, if not all three, Ginny was trying to get the stubborn owl to take a bit of cookie she'd swiped from inside one of the Granger's jars shoved in all of the corners of the counters, growing frustrated by the minute at its snooty demeanor.

"Who's it from?" Ginny finally managed to cram the bit of cookie down it's break, cocking her head over her shoulder to ensure she hadn't been witnessed by the wrath of the savior of all things fuzzy and cute before she shooed the blasted bird out.

"Hm?"

"The package!" Ginny laughed out, slapping her hands to her thighs as she stepped a crossed the room to observe what it was Hermione was gawking at so unsurely.

"Oh, uhh…" Hermione drawled out, trying to swallow down her nervous, paranoid thoughts that Bellatrix was going to jump out the second she untied the large, lace ribbons that held the entire thing shut. Those almond shaped hues of hers, so rich in their deepened shade, glanced over her shoulder to Ginny where she'd stopped to watch carefully on her tip toes to see over Hermione's shoulder while she pulled the thin piece of parchment from on top. She knew that she was procrastinating the moment she paused to run her fingers over the paper, feeling its subtle groves but she could feel Ginny growing impatient as she practically bounced on her heels behind her so Hermione bit the bullet and plucked it open, sighing out a breath that she hadn't even been aware she was holding before she set her eyes flatly to the words inside.

_Hermione-_

_I TOLD you that I would replace your dress._

_I do realize it is not the same one but I thought, like me, it'd look nice on you._

_Pick you up at eight?_

_Draco_

Hermione's lips twisted at the corners, unable to stop the schoolgirl blush befalling her as both she and Ginny read the small note written in his unbelievably pristine hand writing. Really, it was strange…Draco Malfoy had better hand writing than most women she knew, herself included! It was not something she'd think to go around bragging about him but it was definitely a head scratcher. "Apparently it's one of my _I told you so's_ instead of one of Draco's _promises_." He honestly hadn't written anything too sweet, hadn't even signed it with anything but his name, not that she wanted him to have, but she still felt a small gush of emotion wave into her at his attempt.

"It's like you're dating the evil Harry right now. You're dating evil Harry…this is so weird." Hermione was staring at her friend completely and utterly lost before she'd turned her mutterings over to glance at her, jumping a bit as she moved to explain at the notice of Hermione's face blankly washed onto her. "He did that with me, you know, the whole trying to prove himself to me thing, the buy me everything thing…Uh!" Ginny squeezed her fists together as she let out a harsh grunt at the thought of it, "Oh man I hated that! I know he was trying to be sweet but you know me. I would so rather play in the mud than in shiny gems and sparkly things."

Hermione really wasn't one for either gems or mud but she was pretty sure whatever Malfoy got her wasn't lingering on the dirty side. Oh god…at least she hoped it didn't. She carefully went about untangling the package with more nimble finger work than she would have liked to use with the amount of wine she had lingering in her still but she gave it her best efforts none the less. While her hands busied with the thin, raven black, lace ribbons, Hermione distractedly spoke to Ginny with small glances over her shoulder, watching as her friend complexly thought back on her courtship with Harry from her hunching position over the box. "Yes except this is Malfoy so I feel it's so much more…what's the word I'm looking for…" With a firm scrunch of her brow, Hermione tapped her forefinger to her mouth, deliberating hard for the right use here.

"Normal?" Ginny laughed, nudging Hermione, trying to keep her on task to satisfy her own curiosity and to finally pull the tissue paper wrapping the contents that were hiding away whatever Malfoy had bought for her as she attempted to debate what she wanted to say silently in her brain.

"No, prat. I was going to say _reserved_. Harry didn't tell you because he couldn't. Draco didn't tell me because he wouldn't. Big difference there. Harry equals open, Draco equals reserved." Hermione gave herself a good, affirmative nod but Ginny was sure it was more of a mental pat on the back for figuring out just how she wanted to explain this. If there was ever a job invented for a person to be a walking dictionary for all things magical and likewise…Ginny was sure Hermione would be the first to apply with such an extensive resume that they'd have to hire her for fear they'd never get through it.

"I really, truly hate to say that I think he's trying to make that right now but damn you for making me say it…Hermione…Draco Malfoy is trying to make it all right now to be with you." Ginny was so sidetracked at the thought that she hadn't even bothered to turn her head a few inches down to glimpse inside the box she was so interested to see in the first place so she could witness the dark fabric that Hermione was running her fingertips down as she eyed what laid inside just waiting for her to place on. Ginny's face, freckles and all, scrunched tightly as she was finally unable to keep the mild shudder from remaining at bay, "I kind of want to hurl now…no offense."

"I kind of want to hurl too…I think this is going to take some getting used to…by all of us." Lord did Hermione not know what an understatement that really was.

* * *

><p><em><strong>SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO POSTED SUCH NICE REVIEWS AND EVERYONE WHO HAS ADDED MY STORY TO THEIR FAVORITE LIST!<strong>_

_**SORRY THIS CHAPTER IS WAYYY TALKY AND NOT MUCH ACTION BUT I NEEDED KIND OF A FILLER CHAPTER SO I CAN GET TO ALL THE FUN TO TWIST AHEAD. MUHAHA. :D**_

_**ANYWAYS, THANKS FOR READING!**_


	10. Chap 10

The dress truly was nothing short of amazing. Once again, Draco proved his unwavering sense of fashion when he'd moved to replace the garment that he'd so carelessly destroyed but Malfoy always felt the need to go well above what even he thought was expected of him, at least in Hermione's own opinion. She really had actually liked the pale silver lace dress that looked quite dashing on her if she did say so herself, and she still had every intention of attempting to salvage the thing once she had a little free time, but the moment she'd slipped the new, sans ripped, dark, burgundy dress down over the curves of her body, she felt her mind forgiving the action entirely that had him shopping for her again in the first place.

"Wow, Hermione…You look stunning…" Hermione's long, rich curls fluttered back from against her shoulders as she turned from her stance before the long mirror where she stood in the center of her parent's bathroom, moving slowly to face Ginny while she drew her eyes down to the fabric running beneath her fingers overtop the flat of her ribcage.

"You like it?" Hermione's eyes were still locked down on the velvet as it gave a light shine under the light, smiling softly to herself long before she rose her head up to await a response.

"Enough to steal it, yes." Ginny gave her a light laugh as she watched Hermione carefully slip her fingers into a pair of lengthy, black satin gloves, moving quickly to tug them up her forearms before Ginny could add a bit crossly, "I don't even want to know what he paid for that."

Of all the dresses that Ginny Weasley had debated in her head that Draco may have purchased for Hermione, especially after the stories they'd just went through, this was the absolute last one she'd even imagined he'd be capable of picking out. She'd honestly expected to see something on one of two sides of the spectrum: so stuffy you want to lock it in a chest or so slutty that Ginny would have to think of a stage name for Hermione's next pole performance but alas, she stood corrected right there in the middle of the line. It was quite honestly nothing short of eloquent from the perfect pleats of the cap sleeves to the beautiful piped lining tracing the curves of the sweetheart top hugging Hermione's chest perfectly. There was a thin band of fabric tied along the small of her waist before the rich material of her skirt fanned out over dark tulle, stopping just below the bend of her knee with enough space to flash the long, bronze expanse of her legs till they reached the black sling back heels Hermione had personally picked out to top the outfit off. At the moment, Ginny wasn't sure if she was more jealous of the dress or of how Hermione looked in it.

Hermione gave one last glance at her reflection in the mirror from a crossed her shoulder, tilting her head to the side to admire the classic velvet masterpiece that she currently had holding her like it'd honestly been made for her. Come to think of it…Hermione wouldn't have been too surprised if it had been. God, it better not have been made for her…She was really going to have to have a talk with him about this but she could accept just this last dress, right? It was just so soft and so absolutely gorgeous…no; she really needed to have the talk. After all, this was less than twenty four hours into their official relationship. Hermione was a bit nervous that if she held her tongue too long, she might wake up with a pony outside her window.

"You think he told his mum?" Ginny made a rather drawn off expression at the pondering, the corners of her mouth turning down as she winced her teeth but the question sharply turned Hermione from her dreamy gaze of the fabric. To be honest, Draco didn't spend much time talking about his family, with her at least, but his mother was most definitely on the smallest end of verbal references. Narcissa Malfoy was always a bit of a shrouded figure in her mind as far as Hermione was concerned and Draco never really helped matters much with his tight lipped stance on most things involving her but Hermione found it really wasn't her place to pry just as he never did.

"I'm going to doubt it highly."

With a small purse of her lips to the single side of her mouth, Hermione moved to brush both herself and the fan of her knee length skirt out from inside her parent's bathroom and past Ginny, tossing back as she moved in search of her wand to quickly get things tidied back up. "He burnt her request to escort him to Hogwarts tomorrow. Not like he threw it in the fire but like he actually burnt it." There was a brief, satisfied sigh that slid Hermione's lips into a delicate smile once her satin lined fingertips guided around the pale, vine wand that she'd grown so accustomed to. "In his hands, Gin." Hermione stopped short as Ginny rounded out into her bedroom, those thin eyebrows lifted in subtle amusement. "He ignited it with wandless magic and just watched it burn in his hands."

"And you want to date…_that_?"

"I know, right?" There was a light cheeriness in Hermione's laugh and after the wrenching thoughts she'd had about spilling her guts to her friends, Hermione finally felt a bit at piece as she attempted to prepare herself for the first real date that Draco had actually asked her and taken her on as his girlfriend, not to mention still trying to digest that thought. Despite the fact that the dress should have weighed her down like an anchor, Hermione felt light of her heels as she moved about scourgifying things, straightening this or that as Ginny leafed lightly through the massive amounts of new clothes that Hermione had stuffed from top to bottom in the dozens of chests littering the floor of her room.

"You going to tell yours?"

Hermione flinched visibly, stopping her hurried motions to squint an eye over to Ginny, "I kind of used him in a ploy for them not to rush home just to see me off to Hogwarts."

"Used him in a ploy _how_?" The faded coral tint of Ginny's tiers lifted open widely at the question, trying to help Hermione in her completely obsessive cleaning technique but finding the conversation far too distracting. Ginny wasn't sure what exactly Hermione had used Malfoy for at the moment but she certainly loved conniving Hermione considering what a tremendously horrible liar she was.

"Well, I had to owl them and tell them I wasn't with you so I kind of had to improvise before they started asking questions."

"Oh this should be good…"

"I told them that Ron and I had broken up so instead of just going with you lot, I decided to have the head boy escort me since we have a lot of planning to start on anyways for the year."

"Very clever, Miss. Granger, and I'm sure Malfoy does indeed have many plans for the year." Hermione tapped both of her fore and middle finger together against her temple as she nodded her head to Ginny's observation. Hermione was a downright terrible liar so therefore bending the truth just a little while staying in the parameters was about the best that she could do to land in the middle.

"I just think they need a little time still, despite what they say, I think they _need_ it."

Throughout Voldemort's chaos, through the blood, battle, and pain, everyone hoped and dreamt of that moment the war was finally over so they could do the one thing that truly mattered to them. It was something that no person should have to discover under those circumstances but it was something that they'd all thought long and hard about. For Hermione, it was finding her parents, for Ginny, it was to finally be with the man of her dreams, for Ron, it was to grieve the loss of his family, finally, and for Harry, it was simply to finally rest but they all had one. They all had that one small thing to hope and hold on to. The moment they'd won the war, Ginny thought that her life would be nothing but endless bliss with Harry from that point out, ready to collect on her only consolation prize but unfortunately her dreamy schoolgirl hopes for romance, that thing that she'd truly dreamt about for so long, went on a bit of a back burner to the things that mattered more.

Harry had all too willingly sacrificed his own hopes of a peaceful rest after such an exhausting life already when he swiftly took Hermione to run off to Australia in a desperate search with to locate her parents in hopes that between the two of them they could manage a task that in all of their knowledge had only been done correctly twice. They'd all read the dozens of articles that Hermione had attempted to pick up between the battles and relocating about reversing the spell she'd cast over her mum and dad but they all gave little to no clues or help. Hermione, with Harry's careful arm around her, never let that waver her hope. If anything, it only determined her to push harder, to discover and understand with a fever that naturally described the book inclined witch.

"They're mostly finished with the property there and we've already got everything else back in so I'm hoping by Christmas things will feel a little less…"

"I know…Hey, your parents are really happy to be coming home so you should stop beating yourself up over something that they're not even mad at you for."

There was a small degree of sadness wafting in the air as Hermione thought over the weeks it'd taken, the pain and energy, the suffering on either end that it'd took just to reach her parents but Ginny was right. Hermione would never forget the look in her mother's eyes, the way they raised so drastically around the rims, shining brightly in the room when the memory of her daughter flooded her mind fully. "My mum said she felt this terribly anxious void the whole time, like she knew something was missing or that she'd forgotten something but she just couldn't put her finger on it."

As much as Hermione felt bad for the pain it'd caused the ones she'd loved, her parents felt worse that no matter the degree of magic they could ever manage to forget about their one and only daughter. They hadn't wanted to let her go again for the summer, and honestly she hadn't wanted to leave them, but this was traumatic for everyone involved so her ever careful nature told her to proceed with caution. Neither one of her parents, however, thought they needed any time at all. What they felt they really needed was their little girl back where they knew she was safe and sound but Hermione insisted downright that they take their time moving everything back to London, themselves included before they added any more unneeded stress to themselves. The Granger's, no matter neither the amount of promising nor the amount of owls she swore she'd send, were still not very keen on missing more precious time but they still drudgingly agreed to tie up the loose ends now as a part from later so they could simply move forward.

Ginny was looking hard for the words to comfort her friend but she couldn't honestly think of a single one that was up to par with the way she knew Hermione was feeling and it was evident with that strange, sadly pained expression lodged into her face but she was thankfully rescued from her horrible lack of appropriate phrases with a rather disrupting crack booming down the hall.

"Is that Draco?" It felt so foreign using Malfoy's first name to Ginny. It was almost like calling him Draco meant he was an entirely different person. Someone that Ginny hadn't truly met before and it made he feel a bit perturbed at the thought she was meeting someone that was, truthfully, Hermione's new boyfriend for the very first time.

"Who's that?" Hermione called out into the hall, her wand still ever clutched in her fingers while Ginny motioned inside the modest pocket of her pants to free her own wand at the ready. There wasn't much noise answering her back as Hermione strained her ear to the open door leading into the hall without actually moving from where her heels had settled.

"Oi!" Hermione pressed either of her brows together, setting her face determined as she held her wand out before her, stalking out straight into the hall with the low click of her heels echoing from the wood planks of the floor. Ginny was two steps behind her but apparently that was two steps two close for the moment Hermione flinched on her heels to halt, Ginny had to scurry not to scramble straight into her back. Her hand shot straight to her heart the second her feet landed solid, gasping a strained breath just as she heard Hermione announce with a bit of shock, "Draco…"

There Draco stood, squinting his sapphire tinted eyes in the room, mildly dragging his sight over this thing of that before he set them entirely on the woman standing before him, her wand lowered before her as she settled her other along the bend of her hip. "You look quite stunning, freckles. I'm a bit early it seems…" Draco managed to tear his eyes away from the masterpiece that was Hermione in that dress to dash them along Ginny standing rather mused just behind her shoulder as he nodded a small greeting, "She-Weasley."

"Malfoy." Ginny curtly nodded her head back, scoffing as he moved his attention sharply back to the brunette before him as she added softly to the hall with that airiness of hers settling back in her tone.

"Don't look so shabby yourself, Draco."

If Draco hadn't been deliberating his former conversation with Potter so desperately in the back of his mind still, he would have made quite the dashing cover photo for the next twisted article which ever tabloid felt like publishing, Hermione was definitely right about that. It came as no surprise that the dark grey suit he'd slid onto his tall, lithe physique fit him in a way that left one with the residing thought that it must have been made for him and him alone. Draco had modestly adopted on a simple black, long sleeved shirt but it went mostly unnoticed beneath the unbuttoned vest and jacket with its subtle lines of a dark crimson and faint red lining and piping around the dips and curves of them.

"You shaved." Hermione added the comment offhandedly, trying to decipher what it was exactly that had Draco's expressions set so severely into his stoic glance but it shifted at her statement, moving to draw his hand up against his chin with a quirk of his head.

"I'm pretty sure I was almost ambushed twice alone just on my way here. Can't go out looking like I crawled out of bed when you're wearing that now can I, dear?" Whatever it was that was eating at him swallowed back in the slightest as he cocked up that smirk of his, tuning up his charming words with his eyes ever admiring the fabric against her. "You got everything together, freckles?"

Hermione started nodding long before she'd actually thought the question through, lifting her finger in thought and a small wince as she pleaded, "Uh, wait…I think I just need two more minutes."

Draco swiftly glanced round what he could see of the Granger's modest home, answering her flatly as Ginny stood back watching the small exchange, fighting the urge to laugh as Draco began the never winning battle at trying to rush Hermione, especially while she prepared herself for school.

"Your house looks immaculately clean, everything looks fine, you look fine…where's the hold up?" His intention wasn't to push her out the door to hurry along to their date, as much as Draco wished it was. That rather obnoxious conversation with Potter, where he accused every accurate question, was knowledge he did not enjoy keeping secret from her any longer and she was certainly not helping matters.

"I just need to finish putting my chests together so I can ship them tonight." Draco looked completely and utterly unamused by her statement but she defended herself with another pleading smile before she motioned with that same finger and moved to flutter quickly off into her room before he could protest further.

* * *

><p>"You kiss your mother with that mouth, Malfoy?" Draco had opted not to stand there staring at the youngest Weasley and weighing whether he wanted to run in there and just tell her or hold his tongue so he found quick escape to the nearest exit into the fresh air that was possible. He stood with his back facing the now open front entry door behind him, loosely pressing the fabric of his jacket back to dip his hand inside his pants pocket while he fingered a lit cigarette in his hand when Ginny had popped her head out.<p>

"No, but my girlfriend doesn't seem to mind." Draco had drawled the words in between a free ease of smoke pressing out between his lips long before he started to shift his feet and weigh around to face the scowl that would have made Ginny's mother proud. Draco lightly shrugged his shoulder, easily letting his sights fall on to the she weasel as she raised either of her auburn brows up at him from her position there in the open door frame. With a small wave with the lit cigarette in his hand, Draco added dryly, "You know what they say…if smoking doesn't kill you, the Malfoy's will."

There was short burst of laughter that erupted from Ginny's lips, "My mum tells my dad and Charlie that when she's nagging them for smoking a pipe." There was a small smile on the red heads lips but she seemed a bit apprehensive as she moved to take a step out onto the porch, reaching behind her the tug the door softly to leave Hermione to her obsessive checklist to finalize and finish. "You honestly like her, don't you, Malfoy?"

Draco briefly looked down to the half smoked cigarette that rested in between both his middle and forefinger with a heavy, dwelling sigh to the question he was growing rather tired of answer, or not answering, before he lifted the cerulean depths up to her, "No, Weasley. Not one bit. Hate her actually. I just think it'd be really neat to get the chance to be parts of the Potter pals. Truly a lifelong dream for me."

"You don't have to be an ass." Draco had moved a bit down from her on the wood planks that were badly in need of new paint when he took another drag of the square, trying to blow the smoke off into the distance as she shook her head behind him, finding herself sneering in a way that was normally reserved for his face while he talked to one of them. "I don't get you, Malfoy. I mean, I literally just heard about how you…"

"I was joking, she Weasley. Relax…" Draco quickly interrupted her before she had a chance to continue whatever it was that Hermione had just gushed out to her but it left Ginny fighting the urge to leap to the defensive, moving to cross her arms in a loose hold just below the fall of her chest. "All joking aside, however, you don't know me very well."

"No, I don't, Malfoy." Ginny had yet to unfold her arms but she could admit that much to him. "I just meant that I don't think you would have attacked my brother if you didn't really like her, all things, considered."

"No, Weasley, I personally wouldn't have done it if I _didn't really like her_, as your so educated vocabulary put it, but I would have had it done regardless." Draco had lowered his cigarette from his lips in the same motion her breathed the smoke lined words out to her, "Again, you don't know me very well." Draco mused out to her while he rested to sit back along the banister, his ankles crossing numbly before him with that tilt of his head as he lifted his eyes up to her in the diming sunlight that was leaving those sapphire hues squinting against her. "There's really no excuse for your brother or his actions."

Ginny was a bit lost for words. She found herself once again wanting to hate Draco, wanting to smack the arrogance from his words but it wasn't the same snotty brat of a tone he used to snarl down on her so it left her a bit perturbed. If anything, Draco seemed bothered with the irritation that was trapped somewhere behind his eyes as he attempted to remain as he confessed to her with addition, "Your beloved paid me a visit today."

"Does he know?" Ginny suddenly felt like she was sneaking around herself, acting as a super top secret spy, awaiting her cue to drop the bomb while she tried to sidestep Malfoy's bizarre little nick names for everyone that was present in his life. "I mean about you and Hermione?"

"It's Potter. Even I don't think he'd dumb enough not to know something but no, I didn't tell him. I'm not really sure he would believe me if I had tried to be honest." Draco couldn't help but notice the way that the younger girl's hair cascaded in such shimmering waves off of her shoulders each time the chilling breeze slid past, watching her frown at his statement where she stood with her back still remaining to the door.

"Harry…" Ginny thought over her boyfriend for a few moment, sighing as she nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, Harry's going to be a dozy."

Ginny wasn't really sure what to say to him on the matter once again because he was the outsider in this situation, after all. Harry was her boyfriend and while she planned full and well to give him a piece of her mind for going to question Malfoy again, like she'd specifically told him not to, he was still her boyfriend so whether or not he's tied a bow in Draco's usually white hair or knocked his teeth out…he still won with Ginny. Still, Ginny found it a bit troubling to attempt to put the image of Draco into her head as she stared down against who she was so used to portraying himself as Malfoy, carelessly smoking from the end of his cigarette, his eyes and attention constantly drifting off in the greenery that wrapped around the quaint little neighborhood and streets surrounding them.

"Can I say something without you getting all…you like?"

There was a short laugh, an actual laugh, that left his mouth when Draco quirked his chin up to her, "Well, alright, Weasley…since you asked so nicely."

He hadn't meant any real harm by it but she shot him a small, condescending glance of her eyes before she too set her chin determined, plucking her arms from their fold across her chest and letting them fall slack at her sides. "I was going to say thanks." There was a brief pause over the word as it settled off of her tongue, sighing hard before she corrected her sentence and herself at the same time, "I was going to say thank you."

"Well I'm not sure what it is that I've done for you but if I say you're welcome can we just leave it at that?"

"I'm a Gryffindor, Malfoy."

"So not a chance then?"

"Not a chance."

* * *

><p>Draco certainly hadn't won the battle of rushing Hermione but somehow he'd managed to eventually get her to stop unpacking, repacking, unpacking, restuffing, and doing it all over again and allow him to just shrink it all down to size and send it to his apartment with the promises she could repeat the task a million times over if she'd just eat first. A good hour and some odd amount of minutes later and Draco had finally torn her away and managed to detach her from her obsessive folding to get them to The Ledbury.<p>

It was a rather ritzy restaurant just inside Notting Hill but best of all, it was completely in muggle run. Draco never thought he'd be thrilled to whisk some half blood witch off to a muggle restaurant but Hermione Granger was not just some witch or so she insisted on broadcasting to him. Perhaps that was the reason that despite his careful thoughts to keep them just out of the wizarding eye for a nice, camera free dinner, he couldn't seem to manage to stop the waves of tension eating through his senses.

"Sir…Madame." The waiter cleared his throat softly, resting a pad of paper over the delicately folded napkin lying on his forearm as he looked down his thin nose at the two of them, his brows raised in silent question.

"Yes…" Draco slowly rested the menu down before him on the table, setting the chiseled structure of his face as he slid the words from his mouth without a thought, "I think we'll start with the Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, Domaine de la Romanée Conti."

"The eighty-five, Sir?"

"Yes." Hermione had absolutely no idea what had just left Draco's lips but it certainly sounded pretty. Something about foreign tongue…like Viktor Krum, it had a certain charm about it.

"Very good. Excellent wine, Sir." The tall, lengthy waiter seemed to agree rather strongly with Draco's choice of what now appeared to be wine for he was nodding with a small draw of his mouth back, silently judging the table in a new light with Draco's one sentence and leaving him with a strangely more calm appearance than the stiff, mechanical robots that all of the staff gave illusion to being beneath their fleshy exterior. "Shall I have the starter prepared, Sir?"

With all of Draco's flawless etiquette skills in public, instead of simply ordering or making the decision, he opted to slide his eyes against her, tilting his head at her while he delicately moved to rest his hand to the back of her bone upholstered chair, "What'd you fancy, freckles?" Draco carefully let his fingers drag the menu closer to the space between them, pressing it in front of her to move her own out of the way. It was an unnecessary gesture but Draco sat there smiling lightly, keeping his eyes glued to Hermione the entire process.

Hermione's rounded tip nose scrunched up when she lifted her head to him, missing the waiter avert his eyes at the small exchange between them while she placed her finger blindly on the page, "This one…" They both moved to look at what it was she was pressing the pad of her finger into before Draco popped his head up to answer. Draco was fully ready to let that easy tone of his grace out but the waiter too was peering over his nose now and it seemed he was bent to beat him to the punch.

"The salad of spring vegetables with Quail Egg, smoked cheese and herbs…very good. I'll only be a moment, please excuse me."

Draco's brows flinched back a bit at the man's quick departure before he chuckled out, his hand still clasped at the back of her chair where he'd seated himself next to her, "And you thought I was impatient."

"You are impatient, Draco."

"Admitted…but I told you I'd replace everything I've torn."

Hermione had to remind herself that they were, in fact, inside a muggle restaurant when the waiter reappeared literally only a moment later with a trail of black suited men to aid. They moved so quickly that Hermione had to stand by her original thought that they all moved far too mechanically to actually be real live in the flesh, boring, average, every day people with the way they all whisked to the table in one fluid motion. There had to be six different waiters suddenly appearing to help carry the fresh bottle of wine, bring the glasses, to pop the cork, pour the cups, place the stand, set the appetizer and plates…it truly was carefully organized chaos.

"You look breathtaking in that dress, Hermione." Draco's body pressed from his seat, lowering his mouth closely to trail his words out against her ear, leaving his distraction from the bustle around their table null and void when he'd put his focus on her. Something about the way he said her name, so low, so intimately before he shifted his lashes to raise such heated cerulean depths to set against her entirely.

"It is a breathtaking dress, Draco…but you really have to stop doing this." Just as soon as everyone had appeared at the table, they just as quickly vanished and left them to a rather beautiful plate of food and two gorgeously colored glasses of rich red wine just begging to be drunk.

Draco had yet to remove his hand from her chair but he did tear that shifted glance away from her when he moved to divide the artistically laid food off onto the small, square white plates in front of either of them as he questioned, "What's that? Buying you things you like and things I like buying you?" He easily slid the large serving fork back onto the platter, leaning his weight back into his chair while sliding his wine towards him all at the same time, waiting for her to pull an excuse for the strange request out of thin air.

"Yes, precisely that."

"No." He answered her lightly but it was solid and blunt, lifting his brows to take a small warming sip of the superior liquid while Hermione plucked a piece of cheese straight from her plate and into her mouth, closing her eyes momentarily to savor the sweetness it emitted back into her senses in order not to reach across the table and smack his high and mighty answer right back into his mouth. Hermione tapped her fingernails against the surface of the table while she chewed slowly, trying not to watch as he watched her, trying to ensure she understood he was entirely serious about the matter. "Absolutely not, freckles."

"Draco…"

"Yes, dear?"

"I'm being serious here! How much did this even cost?" With a slow motion, Draco swirled the dark wine in a fluid circle inside of his glass, warming it in his hand and breathing it in the air as he completely ignored her question, shrugging nonchalantly before moving to take a testing sip. "How much, Draco?"

"Far less than this," Draco motioned to the glass before he moved to place it down, carefully digging into the appetizer with his fork before he explained with a wave of his hand, "Be mad all you want, it's not going to stop. Most of the things that I truly want I cannot buy with money, or I would."

Hermione wasn't truly, deep down angry with him but it was the principle in the matter that he downright refused her this little humility. Hermione sat tight lipped for a good moment or two, washing back the sweet spices that hinted their food with small sips of wine, debating on how exactly she was going to win this before she boldly folded her arms over her chest, trying to keep her glass upright as she breezed out, "That would be what I am worried about here, Draco. People, myself included, thinking you're trying to buy me."

"I am not trying to buy you, Granger. Just because I bought you a dress does not mean I'm trying to keep you quiet. Just because I buy you flowers doesn't mean I'm trying to get in your knickers…" Draco continued on, dryly giving her examples with that careful watch of his set on her from the corner of his eye, "And just because I may feel like buying you half of Hogsmede, because I probably could, doesn't mean that I am trying to win you over by doing it. Besides, I'm pretty sure it would take much more than that to impress you so I'm not sure why you're thinking so lowly of me."

"If it's so harmless than why won't you tell me how much it cost?" Hermione countered, her knee slowly drawing to cross over her opposite as Draco moved to drop his head to his hand, taking a few careful breaths before he could muster out a sentence to her without wanting to shake her.

"The dress or the wine, Granger?"

"Both, while we're at it."

There was a rather disbelieving look on Draco's pale features when he slid his hand down the structure of his face, sliding his head up with a small shake as he lifted it to stare blindly at the ceiling but the numbers shrugged out of his mouth so mind bogglingly accurate that Hermione had to gape just to understand. "The dress…uh, three hundred and fifty galleons, one sickle, and nineteen knuts if I recall correctly…The wine, about 440 galleons…are you content now?" Hermione's eyes were rather comically wide when he'd finished, watching her run her hands over the smooth skirt trying to understand how anyone just had that much money to go spending on anyone without a second thought but Draco wasn't finished talking just yet, "It's just money, Hermione."

"It's a lot of money, Draco! Too much money…"

"Ok…what about _Perfects Who Gained Power_?"

Hermione blinked a bit, "What?"

"The book, Granger. That book cost a lot of money and I see you didn't think too much of that." He was actually still trying to justify his odd habits but he was leaving Hermione quite caught up on the confusion lining the details of his statement.

"Ok, first, yes, it was a pricey book but I did not purchase said book so I don't see your point….and even if I had spent my own money to buy it, well, it's educational!"

"No, you did not because it was a gift, no?" Draco wasn't watching her so intently anymore when he slipped to take his glass a bit closer to himself, "From that gangly Weasley perhaps?"

"No, I don't know. It could have been from Percy but I doubt it. I mean…it might have been. I found it in my bag one night." Hermione still did not understand his point but she even more so did not understand the calm façade he'd tugged on so quickly, nodding to her statement and speaking all too calmly between small swirls of his wine glass as he held it between those long, slender fingers of his.

"I imagine you tried to return it." Draco mused softly, watching the shadows of Hermione's face scrunch down in her thoughts over his statements, answering him so guardedly that she actually drew her chin and head a hairsbreadth back.

"Yes…I did try and return it to the library but it didn't belong to Hogwarts. They said it belonged to me." Hermione paused and thought hard for a moment in the back of her brain, drawing her eyes far off in the room in her process before she sharply snapped them down on him. "I found that book in my bag last year; I really thought it was Harry…"

"I assumed you would."

"How long have you been doing this?" Hermione asked the question with as much reserve as she could muster. She found herself sitting against the edge of her seat mentally, holding her breath trapped as she prayed a bit he'd turn to tell her he had no idea what she was talking about but alas…

"Awhile…so really, it's nothing new to get used to, Granger." There went that hope.

The waiter, ever the attentive one, was more that swift about clearing away the empty starter plates and tray, bringing them a fresh bottle of wine to acquire to the room temperature while they finished through their first, and mindlessly jotting down their main course on that thick pad of his with a rapid sense of urgency despite Draco's casual tone as he slid their order out to him. For the first time that night, Hermione was a bit thankful that the waiter had vanished so quickly, leaving her to press forward from her chair, literally this time.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine, darlin'. Just stop telling me how I should treat you." It came out of his mouth far too smoothly, as did the motion he made to smooth his hand forward to brush over her own, but that sour look on his lips as he strained a smile upon them made Hermione's stomach clench. For some reason she honestly felt the need to apologize to him but she couldn't force herself to do it, regardless of his turning mood so Hermione settled on a quick diversion.

"So how mad was Harry?" Draco drew his face back sharply, his eyes lifted wide at her response. "Ginny told me already before she left to go tell him for me," Hermione explained plainly, Draco giving his head a short shake of relief as he nodded to her.

"Merlin, Granger, you could have told me that you already knew two hours ago." As much as it irked his core that the petite red headed witch went and told Hermione exactly what he'd explained to her was not the best friendly greeting either he or Harry had attempted, he was more than happy that he didn't have to be the one to tell her. "Wonder Boy isn't our big problem here though, freckles. For once."

Hermione fully turned in her chair now, folding her leg over her knee once again as she rested her hands over top of them daintily, trapping his hand in between while she listened with either brow arched high in her attention. "Want to tell me what exactly that means?"

"Weasley didn't take our little encounter too well and has kind of made things a bit more complicated than needs be. Unfortunately, I can't solve this one by murdering him like I wanted to in the first place." Draco paused on the thought, adding seriously to her, "You should have let me kill him."

"What are you talking about? What'd he do now?" Draco hated that…when she called Weasley he or him like he was supposed to assume that was the man she was talking about, even if he did.

"Primarily? He's causing commotion on whether he'll seek charges against me for knocking his worthless teeth in."

"Jesus Christ…"

"Who?"

Hermione frowned deeply at Draco's lost expression, waving it off as she scoffed out into the room, not really pointing the comment to Draco but it was relevant to his ears none the less. "I can't believe he'd threaten to press charges knowing what that could mean…"

"Well, neither can I but you Gryffindor's never cease to baffle me."

Would this nightmare ever end? The entire time they'd been in the restaurant, Draco seemed nothing but tense and awkward as he tried to hard not to be and Hermione couldn't help sponging on that very emotion now. The aggravation of restraining his actions was taking a toll on the fine lines of his face every time he'd move to touch her and find himself flinching back, lowering his hand to her own or off to the back of her chair. Still, as annoying as it was to watch him grow so bothered, it was far more stressful to watch him sit so nerve wracked, which he was, trying to explain to her the mess that they were facing now. "That's not the worst part…"

"_That's_ not the worst part? It gets worse? How…how can this get worse?" Draco surely was not answering quickly enough for the distress she was feeling. He moved easy, gracefully reaching to pour either of their glasses full again, adjusting himself comfortably in his seat beside her before he could continue on.

"Aside from my not so suavely handled confrontation with Potter and aside from your completely dimwitted ex attempting to have me locked away, _again_, he also reported the two of us to the ministry."

Hermione's lips parted with a small laugh, her tone light as she easily scoffed out, "nothing to report us about so bullocks on that…"

"They're going to investigate our relationship, freckles."

Hermione's lips were still pressed open as she reached to slip her fingers around the smooth rim of her glass just begging for her to down fully. "What exactly does that mean to me? What exactly should that mean to me? Why would the ministry give a flying hoot about who we date?"

"They don't, usually, but they do give a flying hoot, as you so sweetly put, when the two persons in question just so happen to be the appointed heads of the first returning semester at the reforming Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry which means they are bound at the hip from classes to bed." With great power comes great responsibility? No, with great power comes an even greater headache, that's the way it'd always proved itself to Draco at least. "It's not that big of a deal but…"

"Not that big of a deal?" Hermione could barely make the words out, straining to bite the volume back she had truly wanted to shout them in as he lifted his hand forward in attempt to grasp one of her own but she slid it away with careful warning that she was obviously in no mood to be shushed by his little pats and reassuring touches.

"Merlin, Granger, relax, it's really not. We can tell them whatever you want, alright? I thought we better talk about this now as opposed to when they ambush us tomorrow."

Draco tried for a second time to take hold of Hermione's hand, managing to capture it enough to weave it into his own and rest it back down along her knee after a few more futile attempts. "I've been trying to figure out the best way to tell you this since I read it this morning."

"The owl from your mother?"

"Yes. She's a mother…she sees all, hears all, knows all and worst of all, tells all."

"Does she know about us?"

Draco sighed briefly when Hermione stretched her thin fingers against his, clutching them lightly in her hold there, vaguely covered behind the table while he drew his opposite elbow up to the back of his chair, resting his head against the bend of his knuckles, "Not exactly but like I said, she's all knowing so I don't put too much past her. That's all a story for a later date though because this doesn't involve her. This is about how you and I have ten hours and a train ride to figure out just what exactly we're going to do here."

"Do you honestly want to lie?"

Draco's pale face drew in with a desperate shake of his head, taking his hand from its press along his cheekbone to wave lightly in the air, "Hell no, fuck, no, I truly do not want to keep lying." Even now he was tired of lying about the fact that he wanted to hear her breath against his mouth when he kissed her but alas, this was all still one big secret for her sake so he kept quiet. Still, as awful as it was, Draco knew the consequences of it all and while for some of them he was more than willing to sacrifice for, some of the others he wasn't too sure she would.

"Excuse me, Sir…Madame" Again, the familiar drone of the waiter popped Hermione from her attention, snapping her head up with the instantly charmed smile sliding into place but it slid right from its proper position when she caught sight of none other than Betty Braithwaite, Rita Skeeter's very own clone from another mother but oddly just as identical as she had been. Instead of the waiter slipping her lobster in front of her, he carefully tried to question Draco whether or not this intrusion was to be allowed but the rather innocently sweet appearing woman still managed to pat her hands and weasel her way right over to their table regardless of permission.

"It's alright! We're close personal acquaintances." Betty had tried to reassure the waiter far too friendly with her tone, her large teeth glimmering as she smiled widely at him but he only slid his eyes emotionlessly back to Draco, waiting for that firm nod of his, never flinching.

"Are you enjoying your last night before bucking back into school work, Miss. Granger?"

There was a strange exchange of glances wafting around the table but Draco settled to giving the waiter the cue he was desperately waiting on. What could he do? The woman was already hands on the table, literally, and Draco was pretty sure it was going to take a lot more than the security of this upscale rendezvous to escort the likes of her out of the scene uninterrupted.

Draco numbly raised a hand out to interrupt the twittering woman before Hermione could open and shut her mouth one more time, looking like a fish out of water like she was trying to think of something to say to her in response so shocked on the spot. "Can I interest you in a glass of wine since it seems you'll also be partaking in our dinner, Miss. Braithwaite?"

"No, thank you, kindly." The words that slipped from her lips in that falsetto tone were like nails on a chalk board to Draco's already grated nerves. It just wasn't natural. Hermione shot Draco a glare, moving to take a sip of her own wine before she could manage a straight sentence out.

"What do we owe this visit, _here_, in this muggle town of Notting Hill, Miss. Braithwaite?"

"Well I was hoping for a small follow up to put in the good news section…" Again with that voice! She seemed so positively chipper to anyone who didn't know the slanderous lies both herself and all of her colleagues spewed at anyone else's expense. Betty put both of her thumbs up before she turned both of them and her face down in her saddened pout, lowering her voice as she added, "…to take your very hard earned reputations and names out of the bad section."

"In regards to what exactly, Braithwaite?" Malfoy never lost that cool composure as he eyed the snake beneath such a pristinely pinned façade. Even when the trove of waiters came back with an array of plates to start depositing their dinner onto the table, Draco never flinched. He simply sipped from his wine, his hand protectively at the back of Hermione's chair, watching as the woman frantically tried to take notes, despite the lack of answers coming from them, without the use of her magically inclined abilities here in such a muggle central place.

"Well the wizarding world wants to know, Mr. Malfoy, if you think that you and Miss. Granger will last?"

"We're finished here." Still ever the charming one, Draco set a rather sly smile on his lips as he moved to tighten his fingers along the rounded back of Hermione's chair, trying to keep calm for both of their sakes.

"I see, I see, and Miss. Granger…"

"I said we're finished here. The lady is trying to eat her dinner…if you don't mind."

Dozens of chocolate frogs, Honeyduke's hard candy, endless amounts of pumpkin juice and blood orange fizzing soda, and a never ending supply of exploding bon bons had usually topped Hermione's pre leaving for school rituals but instead of Quidditch banter and games of chess, Hermione sat staring at the masterpiece that was her dinner, unable to devour or even touch it considering they had been stalked down all the way in an overcrowded restaurant in a muggle city. And here Hermione thought that the train ride was going to cause her enough stress in the hours prior…silly how hindsight is.

"I don't and I won't be but another moment." Draco's demeanor had already shifted quite drastically but Betty only dotted her pen in the air towards his face as she moved right on jotting down as many notes as she possibly could, Merlin only knowing what. "Miss. Granger…how long have you and Mr. Malfoy been secretly in love?"

The legs of Draco's chair groaned along the tile as he stood abruptly from his chair, leaving his glass idly in his clutch, tearing his hand from Hermione's chair and thrusting his fist down into the white lines of the table cloth between the littering of their plates and dishes steaming and just waiting to be dug into. "We have nothing more to say to you, Braithwaite. Wish I could say it'd been a pleasure…" He had politely tried to dismiss her but Betty was far too good of a lackey to let it go that easily. Hermione tossed her napkin into her lap with a rather irritable roll of her eyes when the nosy reporter finally slid to her feet with the thin, narrow point of her nose angling her beady eyes down onto Draco as she attempted to interject.

"How about an exclusive interview? I've already sat down with Mr. Weasley, you know, Miss. Granger, your recent ex lover." Draco was far above hitting a woman but man he wished he wasn't. Funny thing was, Hermione too had far too much class to stoop to a scuffle but she certainly flinched to stand at that comment and Draco was sure without a shadow of a doubt that Hermione would have given the fake witch the punch he was longing to do had he not halted his hand out to stop her, splaying his fingers to keep her at bay.

"Listen here…"

"No, you know what? I got this one, Draco. Thank you." Draco paused, watching as Betty's hand too paused sharply with the tip of her pen pointed against the notepad she'd been jerking about with her eyes darting between the two. Draco was far less frantic in motion when he slowly leaned his eyes to bend to her, his head following second as he lifted those pale blonde brows of his.

"Sure about that one, freckles? Big day tomorrow…" Draco warned lightly, trying not to sound too condescending but even he was biting his tongue back knowing what they still had to face.

"Absolutely certain." Hermione wasn't one to stand up to something she wasn't determined to face and now was no exception. There was a soft smile on her lips as she turned her head to face Betty fully, lifting her brows as she sweetly asked, "You don't so happen to have a copy of that exclusive interview, do you, Betty?"

The elder witch seemed a bit perturbed at the common use of her first name so informally but she nodded her head despite the lack of her eyes being actually drawn to either Hermione or Draco. "I absolutely do but it's not set to be printed until tomorrow. I was hoping to print yours alongside it." Hermione had still yet to remove the scrunched satin gloves of hers and she couldn't help but revel in the feel of them running down the bodice of her dress, smoothing over her skirt as she set those bright chocolate eyes dead set on the dark rooted blonde before her.

"Then I suggest you listen here, as you have nothing else that I want…" Hermione began much as Draco did, giving him a thankful nod of her head for beginning for her but she was fully prepared to finish, "…I am Hermione Jean Granger. If someone from The Daily Prophet wants an interview with myself or Mr. Malfoy, they'll send Cuffe because no one else corrupted to bias babble is worth a moment of my time, especially you." Draco blew a small breath of air out, unable to stop the tint of a smirk gallivanting back onto his mouth. What could he say? It was so very low of her to say but it was so very Slytherin…Draco could have pictured the same thing coming out of his mouth, well, if you threw in a few more curse words that is.

"Two choices here, very simple so I'm sure even you'll be able to follow…" Hermione was venomously lashing her words out, talking down to the woman who had to be seven years her prior like she was a first year, "You can leave now and let us enjoy our dinner since we've spent so much time fighting to let you and the rest of the world enjoy their lives and wait until the day comes that myself or Mr. Malfoy wish to make a public statement about any of the before mentioned questions or you can continue to stalk me and I will be forced to destroy your existence as you know it."

"Was that a threat, Miss. Granger? I think she's had a bit too much wine." Draco wanted to warn the woman to bite her tongue but Hermione still smiled that sweet, dimple bearing smile of hers, watching her with that same sparkle in her eye like when she met a knew potion that struck her fancy.

"Not at all, Betty, it was a very accurate promise. Like I said, if you'd like to behave like someone who writes for the pink magic section then I'll be happy to pull some strings and make the transfer official. I have the highest marks since the beginning of Hogwarts; I've single handedly broken seven unbreakable curses, three in the last six months, rescued and cured dozens of lost witches or wizards, helped design spells meant to teach this semester to help rebuild our school, and still managed to help win the worst war the wizarding world will ever have to see if there is still blood in my body." The far too thinly plucked brows of the woman shook at the high peak as she listened to Hermione speak softly to her like she wasn't tearing into her soul, "I am Hermione JEAN Granger. Who the hell are you?"

* * *

><p>Hermione woke early in the bleak hours of the morning, her eyes sharply opening into the strange, foggy blue haze that was creeping through the windows lining Draco's room. She'd awoken with a jolt of energy, ready to tackle the day head first and set to a long list of duties she'd planned in her head to check off one at a time before Draco even managed to get out of bed but the fact that he was already not in the bed seemed to put a small damper on her strategy.<p>

It was with much rapid motion that Hermione whipped herself from the bed she'd sought refuge in for the last few days, blinking hard to try and clear the fog that still misted in her brain. The room bounced back and forth in her wavering vision, blurring in such a way that it honestly made her search for him a bit troubling but she sought hard none the less to find not only him but any of the mess they'd left when they'd collapsed, thoroughly exhausted, the night prior. Hermione stood still for a moment, rubbing her eyes as she tried to comprehend how there wasn't a single piece of clothing strewn over the floor or a single chest to drag out.

Bare feet padded softly against the ground, wandering the room a bit irritated that Draco had obviously beaten her to the punch to prepare everything, and she did mean everything, for their departure in just a few hours but he wasn't exactly in the room for her to scold, now what he?

"Draco?"

Draco flinched in his chair long before Hermione's bare feet had padded down the hall, clad in nothing but his button down that was doing a poor job holding on to her curves with the way she'd sloppily placed the buttons in askew holes. The long length of her hair was wildly clinging around her face, matted this way and that from her tossing and turning when she'd made her way out the find Draco slack in his arm chair propped before the dying fire he'd let go unattended. The muscles along his back tightened at the first sound of her voice, letting out a deep breath to turn his eyes over and up to face her as she breathed out, "Gods, Draco…you look terrible…have you even been to bed?"

Draco wanted to frown at her but he found himself far too tired for that much emotion so he set simply to leaving his eyes dully set to her, watching her stare judgment into his exhausted features as she rounded around on him and his chair, blocking the glow of the flames behind her delicately curved frame.

"Good morning to you too, freckles. You look quite ravishing yourself."

His voice sent shivers straight down the swell of Hermione's spine even in her hazy, waking state but the dark circles resting beneath Draco's pristine blue eyes was a bit unnerving to say the least. Draco reached his fingers out to her as he lifted his hand, giving a small grunt of satisfaction when she reached across to close the distance with her straightened arm, taking hold of his out held appendage to lace her fingers against his own. She easily allowed her feet to press her closer to his seated form, their hands sliding slack between them as she moved to stand between the parts of his thighs.

"You're not answering me, Draco. Have you been to bed?"

"Yes, twice this evening I believe." Hermione's nose scrunched down at him, hissing a bit behind her closed teeth as he continued on, "I've also been in the hall, the foyer, the balcony…I believe we made it to the kitchen table…"

He was avoiding the question like the plague, trying to sway her mind as he moved to tug her hip in a bit, folding her to sit down against the leather arm of his chair, brushing her legs up to rest comfortably over his lap as she questioned, "You worried about tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't say worried." The heat that radiated from Draco's touch never ceased to amaze Hermione because even in the heavy hours dwindling before them, it still managed to calm her nerves as he ran his hands idly against her calves while he spoke to her lowly in the silence of the room. "More like lost I'd say."

Hermione knew exactly what he meant. The whole night they'd tried to connive plan after plan to find a loop hole in having this whole thing be blown up so drastically in their faces but all they managed to do was meet nothing but dead ends. "I was going to make coffee, get everything together, and make some breakfast…" Hermione folded her ankle over her opposite, pressing down to set herself into Draco's lap carefully, rolling her head to his shoulder the moment his arms sighed around her.

"Yes…I wasn't sleeping well so I decided to go ahead and take care of it." Ah, a bit of truth from the master of deception. Wasn't sleeping well, though? That was the best Draco could come up with? He looked like he hadn't slept in a week and despite the fact that his face was smooth beneath Hermione's hands last night, he already had a dark scruff lining the chiseled structure of his jaw bone now. It didn't help that even then, the way his head was lulling against the top of her own head, his eyes half lidded, he looked as if he might just doze off for an eternity or two.

"I was hoping that The Prophet would be here by now…" Hermione admitted softly, trying not to sigh at the deep roll in Draco's eyes despite the heavy shadows filling the dim room.

There was no reason that she needed to go ruining her day reading the filth and the twisted words that they were set to post this morning staring Weasley and his new girlfriend, Draco was sure. It was only going to upset her and he knew it but worst of all, Draco feared it would only floor her into acting a bit irrationally, with all given right, and he wasn't sure how to keep stopping her from destroying a man he absolutely wanted to rot in front of his very eyes.

"Do not make me put you back to sleep, freckles." There was a light creeping motion in the pads of Draco's fingers, inching up her leg and towards his shirt just falling from her frame the way she was resting on top of him but she was all too quick to brush his hand away swiftly and all too accurately.

"Ah ah ah, I don't think I have the strength mister."

"You're a bad liar."

"You're the one who couldn't even wait till we left the restaurant last night." Draco could hear that light smile on her face as she purred her words into his skin there in the crook of his neck but what could he say? Like usual, she was telling the truth.

The second Hermione had damn near chased the reporter out of the restaurant, all without ever raising her voice, hand, or wand, Draco found himself having the just placed meal of theirs immediately wrapped for their quick departure. They'd made it to about the third coat closet before he'd given up attempting to wait another moment and gave in to simply dragging her inside to have his way with her. From there he finally made it to his loft, to the back of his couch, to the bar, against the hallway walls…and finally in his bed, the one place he'd truly wanted her in the first place. Draco had sat for hours restraining himself from touching her so he felt quite entitled to do every bit that he'd missed out on every second that he'd got until they were both lying naked, entangled and coated in a fine sheen of sweat, thoroughly exhausted and panting for breath…which is exactly what he did.

"If I go get the article…do you promise not to rip anyone's head off before we get to Hogwarts?" Hermione questioned him lightly, far too interested in whatever Braithwaite had written, in his personal opinion, this early in the morning.

"Can you?" Draco quirked his brow to her, watching as she stretched her legs out over the arm of his chair, moaning lightly in her arch of muscle, a heavy yawn parting her lips wide but she said nothing, only smiling up at him innocently…such a great cover for the destruction he knew, if pushed, she was quite capable of.

* * *

><p><em>Good Girl Granger A Good Girl No More: Weasley Sets The Record Straight<em>

_By Betty Braithwaite_

_After the entire hubbub around the rather controversial break up of Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, this reporter has finally gotten some answers! Mr. Weasley and his new beau, Miss. Lavender Brown, sat down with yours truly to give us the real, behind the scenes story over their love, loss, and betrayals over the last few months._

_It's sadly true that Mr. Weasley admits that he sought out a relationship with Miss. Brown while he was still, in fact, dating the notorious Hermione Granger but is he really the one to be prosecuting for such a low act like we've all been lead to believe? This reporter certainly thought so until today._

"_I'm not proud of the way I went about it, getting together with Lav, but I felt if Hermione's heart was already somewhere else then maybe it was time mine was too." Mr. Weasley said. When I asked whether or not it was the infamous Draco Malfoy that had stolen the young woman's love away from him, Mr. Weasley sadly looked to the floor, choking back tears and nodding emphatically. Through the heartbreak on his face, Mr. Weasley managed to tell me that Mr. Malfoy had started perusing Miss. Granger immediately upon ending the war and it wasn't long before they started their secret tryst, leaving the poor, grief stricken Weasley alone in his heart ache._

"_Hermione is a very strong, independent woman. I don't think she ever meant to hurt me but once I knew about Malfoy, well, I guess I just didn't feel I had any other way out." Weasley said, lovingly holding onto his new love, Miss. Lavender Brown's hand as he spoke so sweetly of the woman who had just trampled his heart with infidelity and lies. _

_Mr. Weasley said he remained a doubting boyfriend despite the fact that Miss. Granger was anything but honoring him while she tried to figure her life out but he couldn't help but be drawn to the magnetic light around Miss. Brown in the mean time._

"_Won won and I just knew we were destined to be together after the war. We just met up and…well, that was that!" Miss. Brown boasted proudly as she beamed her sparkling smile onto Mr. Weasley._

_I asked Mr. Weasley why Miss. Granger would publically slander him for dating Miss. Brown when she was, in fact, the initial betrayer but he too seemed at a loss for words. Weasley seemed equally confused about the confrontation by Mr. Malfoy earlier this week when the two caused a good amount of damage and commotion over the Gryffindor goddess._

"_I think Won won has more than paid the price and then some and all he did was let her use him! He is not the bad guy here, you know? When is Hermione going to stand up and take responsibility for what she did?" Miss. Brown commented._

"_I'm a strong man, I can take all the crap I'm getting but I stood up like a man and I have admitted my wrongs so now I think it's time that everyone knows the full truth." Mr. Weasley said._

_The misunderstood Weasley told us he had attempted to contact Miss. Granger a few times, desperately extending an arm of their lifetime friendship but she has downright refused any communication at all. Still, Mr. Weasley seems hopeful that his former girlfriend will come around in time but this reporter thinks it is Miss. Granger that should be doing the crawling!_

_I personally caught up with Miss. Granger outside of London while she feasted with, what a surprise, her surprisingly undercover new found love, Draco Malfoy to see what she had to say about all of this just last night. The two sneaking love birds shared a glass of wine with me while they talked about their plans of how they were spending their last evening before classes resumed but showed little remorse, if any, when it came to the public attack she'd commissioned about her ex not to mention his heartbreak._

_What does the famous Harry Potter have to say? _

_Page 20 to continue_

* * *

><p>There was a low sigh of air being pressed through Draco's nostrils just from the title as he and Hermione held the paper out lengthwise in front of them where they both stood leaning over his kitchen island, mildly holding a cup of coffee to ease the tension already building but it was doing a poor job. Draco had yet to get a single wink of sleep. He'd been up for well past twenty four hours stressing about keeping the woman next to his from stressing but that was just causing more and more stress! He'd drank far too much the night previously, exerted far too much energy with the witch at his side, and he still had yet to face the ministry on two separate counts now, not to mention the lot of her friends, who he was sure were just itching to tear into him as well.<p>

"I don't think I want to keep reading this anymore…"

"I tried to tell you it was going to be a bunch of shit, love."

"Don't call me that." Hermione reprimanded Draco shortly, sighing as she downed what was left of her caffeine in one swift gulp.

How could Ron say that about her? How could he lie and make her out to be the monster to the entire wizarding population after everything that he'd already put her through? Just when Hermione thought Ron had finally stepped aside, just when she thought he'd found the guts to give her this shred of decency to let her get over the mess in her own way, he had to pop back up and toss a wrench in the mechanism of her life all over again. Still, as Hermione chewed insistently on the bottom corner of her lip, trapping it between her teeth with her fretting thoughts, Draco only stood easy, taking a small sip of his coffee as he laid the paper flatly on the counter.

"It's a bunch of rubbish that I'm not sure why you're letting get to you." He reiterated the thought to her easily, frank and numb while he began leafing through the pages so that he could in fact continue the story he was telling her she was insane to keep reading.

"Because he's calling me a cheater, Draco! That is why I am letting this get to me. I am not the cheater here in case you've forgotten…" Draco scoffed lightly, propping his elbow on the counter, his chin resting to the top of his knuckles while he allowed his eyes to scan over the continuation of what had to be the most ridiculous article that he'd read involving them yet.

"Trust me, I didn't forget."

"Don't you care in the slightest that everyone is calling you a home wrecker?"

"Nope." Hermione could not quite grasp the way he truly seemed to, literally, give a fuck less about the rumors as a whole, shaking his head lowly at the words before him but Hermione was far past unnerved to allow him such short conversation.

"Draco!" She shouted his name with a good stomp of her foot and a rather wide, alarmed look darting through the specks of her eyes, watching as Draco let his arm fall flat to the counter, slowly turning his head around his shoulder to glare at her outburst while he dramatically tapped his fingers over the open pages of The Prophet.

"_What_ is it, Granger?" Hermione opened her mouth to answer him but she was beginning to feel like a broken record so she settled with a deep roll of her eyes, watching Draco's lithe frame slide around to fully face her with that nearly empty cup of his resting inside his waiting palm. "I am _trying_ to read about how I proposed to you on your and Weasley's anniversary."

He surely hadn't meant to sound so downright offended that she'd interrupted this honor for him in such a comical manor but Hermione found it hard suddenly to fight the pulling tilt of her mouth from giving her away. "You're such a prat."

"Listen, I think this whole thing is absolutely amazing. Damn well bloody fantastic actually and do you know why?"

"Because you're stoned?"

Hermione's slender arms slid along her chest, lifting a brow to him as he shrugged a response to her, complete with his soft chuckle in the room to top off his nonchalant demeanor so polar opposite of her own. "No but that is an excellent idea, love."

"Stop calling me that, Draco!"

The lines of his cheeks deepened into his smirk, so thorough amused by ruffling the feisty feathers that brought her to life but this really wasn't the time for that. "I do not give a good god damn about these articles because as far as I'm concerned, they only make him look foolish to those that you really give a bleeding heart for. I could care less because what could they possibly post that you would believe over me?"

"Well nothing but…"

"Then there is no argument here. It's stupid, Granger. I don't enjoy them printing nonsense about you, I'll give you that. That part irks me quite a bit actually but I'm all for being the reason that everyone is all fired up, aiming ammunition away from you so to speak."

Hermione tapped her foot, clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth before she slyly asked, "So did I say yes?"

"Well I don't know that because you won't let me keep reading now will you?"

* * *

><p>By ten thirty in the morning, Kings Cross was already in full swing. Large, obnoxiously red, double decker buses dodged between small, compacted cars while they flowed through the streets around the building but that was nothing compared to the masses of people all crowding to slide through the closing doors to this train or that before it roared down the tracks with a loud blast of clouding white smoke to trail behind it.<p>

"Gin, please stop holding your breath…you're making me nervous." Harry tried offering her a polite smile, inching the bridge of his glasses up his nose a hair while he squeezed the light arm resting around her shoulders reassuringly.

With a small frown, Ginny tilted her head up to him, huffing out a long breath of air to appease his request before she asked, "Where do you think she is? I swear if one more person tries to ask me about what happened then…well, I'll do something really terrible."

Harry couldn't help but nod with that widening smile of his, agreeing with her without a shadow of a doubt that she would indeed, do something very unladylike if someone bugged her one time past her limit.

"I saw her luggage getting loaded by the house elves inside the train already so I figured she'd already be here." Harry squinted hard through the crowd where they stood there in the long length running between platform 9 and platform ten.

"Got her! She's right there…" Ginny tried to point over Harry's head far down the way but she dropped her arm far too quickly for Harry to get a glimpse at where exactly she was pointing. "Well, I see Malfoy's blinding hair so she's got to be close by..."

* * *

><p>"It's now or never, Malfoy…either you let go of my hand or we face the music." Draco narrowed his gaze down against her, his fingers still wrapped in her own while he stood tall at her side.<p>

"That's what I was going to tell you, freckles."

It was a rather big leap of faith for Hermione, feeling her steps dragging in the slightest down the brick laid sidewalks wrapping around Kings Cross as she tried to debate it all so heavily in her head. If things could just remain as they were with Draco it'd be partially worth the head ache but could she really expect him to be the man he'd shown her that he was with all the added weight about to crash in around them?

Draco's hand, ever light in Hermione's sent a reassuring squeeze to her wavering thoughts before he released it and moved his own to slide around her waist, his words soft and unphased as they pinpointed against her, "If you're saying you'll stay here then I'm sure I can handle it."

It was already almost a quarter to eleven and the platform was in full swing the moment they'd stepped to round the corner, the bustle of people, both muggle and magical all darting this way and that, leaving Hermione flinching to avoid them under Draco's carefully guiding arm while he tried to prove to her his choice, pressing her forward and into the crowd.

"Hermione!"

Hermione's head perked up at the familiar voice, nearly running from Draco's touch to bolt towards the all too familiar red head that too was darting to meet her half way the moment she'd understood just who was calling her name. The two of them collided in a toss of arms and a fierce grabbing hug that had Draco staring with both of his brows lifted and his own arm still cast open in Hermione's sudden absence. Truthfully, the second the two of them grabbed each other, Draco couldn't make out where one started and the other began but somehow they still managed to chatter out nonsense to each other that went deaf on any functioning males ears. They hugged each other so desperately it made Draco feel like they hadn't seen each other in thirty years…it was an odd thought considering they'd just had personal alone time less than twenty four hours ago. _Women._

"Have you seen this?" Harry sauntered up to the scene far faster than Draco's casual stroll had maneuvered him to stand a good few feet behind the grasping Granger, watching Potter try to gain her attention.

"Quite an amazing demonstration of fiction, if I do say so myself. What did you think about Weasel's big loaded trash heap of lies, darling?" Draco smiled that suave smile of his, casting his gaze to Hermione's back as she slowly slid from Ginny's touch, daring her eyes up to Potter to access his reaction to whatever Ginny had managed to tell him last night.

"Do you think he actually said all of that?" There was an obvious line of tension creeping up the structure of Hermione's spine, nearly wincing as she awaited his reaction and that had Draco on high alert. He really didn't want to start the school year off trying to put another member of the trio in the hospital but if Potter wanted to publically lash on her too, he surely wasn't about it...Much to Draco's easy relief, however, Harry said nothing as he moved to wrap his arms around Hermione, shooting a dark gaze against him before he moved his face back to speak to her directly.

"No more than I think you'd actually marry Malfoy." There was a soft smile on Harry's face when Hermione gave out a short laugh, the two of them turning their heads as Draco scoffed hard into the air.

"And here I was going to ask you to be my best man…" There was a short flick that Draco gave to his head as he feigned exasperation with his hand resting over his chest but it was Ginny's turn to laugh out at the dramatic display that was Malfoy this time. What did he expect? Just because Harry was trying to tolerate what Hermione chose to do with her life didn't mean he had to like the man she was choosing to do it with. No, he simply had to tolerate Draco like he'd always had to tolerate Draco…but far closer.

"Harry! Hey there! Ginny!" Hermione suddenly felt a sudden pang of guilt for not being present at Harry's party but she was grateful all at the same time that she didn't have to do the entire regreeting all over again for the second time in two weeks as she caught sight of Luna Lovegood darting closer by the second. Hermione's back straightened from her slack resting hold from where she stood with Harry, finding her feet slowly moving back to Draco as Neville's hand flashed through the crowd just behind Luna, rushing forward to weave through the jumble of students.

"Hermione it's so good to see you! Draco…wow, how've you been?"

"You know what they say, it's good to be me, Lovegood."

"Luna, hey! How was your summer?" There was that nervous tension again, sweeping Hermione's body the moment that Hermione felt Draco's fingers smooth over the small of her back and those arrogant words tracing off his lips. She could feel this day turning sour already…

"It was super amazing. Neville took me to France for a nice get away." There was nothing but love that speckled Luna's unusually crystal blue eyes as she washed them up along her boyfriend who couldn't stop the blush that still crept up his cheeks any time Luna looked at him. It really was sweet, as innocent as they were despite everything but Luna was quick to pop Hermione out of her thought as she widened those eyes on her and quickly up to the blonde that had not gone unnoticed so towering at her side. "Oh, hey! I almost forgot! Congratulations Hermione! No one believed me when I said that I saw you two together and now you're getting married!"

Neville cast a hard look to Draco, wearily watching him as he questioned Harry through a side glance, hoping to prove his ever romantic girlfriend wrong but Harry's face was sternly too set on Draco as well while he smirked in his amusement, biting back a laugh behind that smug expression of his to Luna's statement.

"Oh no, Luna, Draco and I aren't engaged…"

"They most certainly are not engaged." Ginny laughed hard in addition, raising her slender, thinned brows up while she wrapped either hand around the bend of Harry's arm to give it a small tug backwards. "Come on, we're going to miss the train."

"You're not engaged? Oh, well that's a shame. I just read that you two met and fell in love…" Hermione wasn't looking too enthralled with the flighty girl's questioning of their relationship, choosing to step closer and saunter alongside her while they all slowly obliged to take a quick motion through the barrier of tan brick blocking entrance to platform 9 ¾ .

One by one they all slid through, Ginny Weasley dragging a rather carefully observant Potter along just behind her, leading the pact, and following in toe with Draco as he sourly tried to remind himself that he wasn't always going to have to deal with her friends. Where the hell was Pansy and Blaise anyways?

"No, we're just dating, Luna." The look on the oddly pale blonde's face lit up so animatedly that Hermione would even admit to such a Romeo and Juliet type romance that Draco honestly thought beams of light and glitter might burst from her eyes but it wasn't Lovegood's day dreaming thoughts that had Draco freezing in his steps, there, only a few feet inside the platform. While Luna's words were enough to make anyone stop and throw up on the spot, it was the words that boomed so loudly in his ear with a crescendo at his side that had him locked in a halt.

"AH! Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, you've finally arrived! Come, come, we have a lot to discuss and this train ride gets shorter every year." Hermione whipped around her shoulder in a fluttering of curls, her soft features lost as she caught sight of Kingsley Shacklebolt moving up at her side with a rather solid looking Percy Weasley towing behind him. "Many things to discuss before we get down to Head business."

Ginny's face like up like a Christmas tree the moment she'd laid eyes on her brother but his sight was locked hard against the young Malfoy as he smoothed to face the commotion, numbly running his fingers to scratch at the platinum strands as he slowed out, "I didn't take you for the comedian Minister."

"What is it that I've made a joke about, Mr. Malfoy?" The vibrant violet of the man's long robes pleated perfectly to the floor but it only made the man appear more monstrous before them all. Draco stood wearily, watching the Minister from a slow lift to his eyes, trying to understand just how much trouble they could possibly be in that Shacklebolt felt the need to speak with them so urgently here long before they'd even reached Hogwarts.

"I don't see my mother anywhere, Sir, I beg your pardon, so…" Draco began calmly, chancing a glance to Hermione as she stood awkwardly to divide the space between Draco and Luna, watching with a strange tilt to her head but Shacklebolt lifted his large, strong hand up to interject. There was something in the way his tone always laughed off of his full lips long before he'd even said a word that had Hermione finding her breath catching at the back of her throat, fighting the urge to grab Draco for support from what exactly she wasn't sure.

"Is it all still so new to you, boy? My…young love. Do you remember it, Percy?" His hard eyes loamed over his shoulder to slide against the older Weasley as he stood his height with his arms stiffly and firmly lifted to fold against his chest but he offered his Minister nothing but a polite force of a smile before the man turned back with a gesture of his hand down onto the woman he meant to refer to as he explained, "I was talking about your young wife, Mr. Malfoy. Now shall we…"

"Sir…Draco and I are most certainly not married." Hermione couldn't help but interject, a rather baffled smile on her face, laughing to herself in the confusion that Braithwaite had obviously caused. Perhaps this was what the entire hubbub about the ministry investigating their relationship was all about? Hermione almost found herself wishing they were that naive to read into gossip so that she and Draco might be able to scrape by this thing a little less unsheathed but she had a small inkling that this wasn't that simple. Was anything ever that simple when it came to Draco? Hell, when was anything that simple with the ministry? For Merlin sake, the Minister himself was standing before her trying to tell her she was a Malfoy...what simple sense was that?

"Oh but Mrs. Gran…hm," Minister Shacklebolt cleared his throat and smiled a light motion of a smile onto Draco as he side barred, "You have me doing it now." Those dark eyes of his moved back onto the oddly surprised witch before him with ease as he corrected, "Mrs. Malfoy, do forgive the mistake there but there is no mistake that you most certainly are married…Have you not received your copy of the license?"

"Percy what in Merlin's name…" Ginny's chocolate hues couldn't have possibly been pulled any wider, staring straight into her brothers sighing face as she begged him to answer her with that silent plea of hers.

"It's true. They signed the papers last week." Percy said it flat as pavement, remaining obediently quiet behind his superior as he stood with that blank hold of his features, showing no true emotion to the situation with his hands clasped in front of him solidly just as his stature was.

"I personally stamped them myself, my dear." Shacklebolt seemed thoroughly confused by the lost sight that was wafting over Hermione's eyes, watching her blink hard to clear the dizziness she was suddenly feeling. "I was naturally quite astounded to see either of your two names on a marriage license, let alone together, so I checked it doubly. Everything was in order. I ensured it was a swift and orderly process, I assure you."

"I'm sorry…are you trying to tell me that…" Draco could barely get out the words but even in his aghast state, he wasn't unaware of the empty silence that was beginning to echo around them as everyone move to cease their conversations entirely so that they could strain to hear better. It was bad enough that everyone there on the platform stared from the corner of their eyes the moment they'd all popped through but now they were full on gaping like they were watching the most fascinating play known to this world.

"Are you telling me that Draco and I somehow...are you saying that we got…"

"I am telling you that as of, oh, four days ago both you and Mr. Malfoy were officially recognized by the ministry and the wizarding world as a married union…yes, that is precisely what I am telling you, Mrs. Malfoy." That well placed smile of his never wafted from his all too knowing face as he concurred to the thoughts that hadn't even left Hermione's lips before he questioned so unnecessarily, "Is there a problem?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ah the twists of chapter ten…XD<strong>_

_**Special thanks to everyone who's reviewed! You always keep me pumped to get back at it.**_

_**Again, apology time! Sorry about the need for weird in between scenes but Draco and Hermione still have a lot of relationship defining to get into I feel. I'm not a fan of the whole D/H start dating one day and the next day they start talking like they've been in love forever, living happily ever after in la la land so I'm trying to avoid that. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for everything and some stories call for that sort of thing but not this lady so bare with me guys and gals!**_

_**SUPER special shout out to Almondgirl who brought up a point that I'd been sitting back on for awhile. I've been trying to think of how I wanted to bring the Granger's back into the picture so you totally rock. That's for the inspiration!**_

_**Oh, yes, I realize I haven't said anything about where Ron was during the finding the Granger's process but I promise that is to come along with many other small secrets I have to reveal.**_

_**Thanks for reading everyone! Enjoy.**_


	11. Chap 11

"Draco…I'm going to have a heart attack. Yes, I'm going to have a heart attack." Hermione's breaths panted quickly from her chest, hyperventilating as she attempted to take her own pulse with the press of her finger in against the quick beating vein in her jugular. "I can feel it! Oh my lord…this isn't happening….how did this happen! What the fuck happened?"

"Such a mouth on you, Granger," Draco commented numbly to her tirade, dully looking down to inspect the nature of his nails for a moment.

Hermione was completely beyond herself in panic and it was rather apparent from the way her formally gentle curls were now frizzing out around her face as she nonstop paced her feet in the small space she'd resided herself to inside the cramped classroom just down from McGonagall's new office.

"I'm sorry; its Malfoy now, isn't it?" Finally, the pacing stopped! The comment had Hermione spinning drastically on her heel, daring a glare straight through the center of his head before he chuckled to continue in that horribly casual tone of his, "Apparently this happened somewhere between me being hammered drunk when we ran through the fountain…"

Hermione's head popped up to him, cocking it quickly as she stared her statement against him, "I don't remember a fountain…"

"Precisely, freckles."

All Hermione could do was shake the blank stare on her face at him, trying to understand how she'd managed to get so black out drunk, for the first time in her life, without even knowing it and trying to figure out how she could have been so irresponsible that she would go and have her first marriage be some stumbling end to a drug binging night instead of the carefully sought to details of the wedding she'd always dreamed would start the happiest days of her life. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be! She was supposed to fall in love, get engaged, plan a beautiful wedding and live happily ever after…not wake up married and plan to beg the Ministry for an annulment all before she'd turned twenty one!

"Well, somewhere between the stupid drunk we were at the fountain and the completely fucked drunk that we were when we passed out in my bed, we appear to have gotten hitched and all without me ever kissing you. I'm pretty sure _that's _what happened but like I said, I'm a bit hazy on the details here considering the fact that I've formed a serious habit over you and I have a tendency to push it to the limit in your presence so if you have any sudden clues on the matter…I'm all ears."

"They're going to kick us out of school. I'm never going to graduate…my mum and dad will never speak to me again and they're barely alright being around me now! I can't imagine what McGonagall is going to tell them." There she went again, damn near fully into break down mode, over exaggerating as her breaths started to pant once again, nervously ringing her hands in front of her lap. "I remember smoking with Pansy, _a lot_…and whatever Blaise gave me…I remember A LOT of liquor. Did I do shrooms?"

"What the bloody hell are shrooms? And are you kidding me right now, Granger? We got married…we didn't blow up Hogwarts. Well, _again_." She looked like she wanted to toss herself out the nearest window there inside the small, vacant classroom that they'd been practically ushered into the moment they'd stepped foot onto Hogwart's grounds. "No, you did not do whatever shrooms are, as far as I recall."

"You don't recall us getting married either, Draco." Hermione had her eyes hard and dead set against him, firmly placing her arms over the swell of her chest, rapidly tapping her fingers against the muscles of her upper arm.

"Well I do recall telling you that you weren't doing dust so I think I remember a bit more than you think."

"Draco, we have to fix this. It's not supposed to be like this…" Those pristine blue eyes of his were raised defiantly at her command, staring down at her as he brought his hands to rest low along the bend of his hips on the either side of his body. He wanted to argue for reasons unbeknownst to him but she honestly looked so wounded and hurt over the matter as she asked him, "Aren't you upset? Like, at all? This can't be what you want. We are _married,_ Draco Malfoy."

"I've never honestly thought too hard on marriage to tell you the Merlin's honest truth, freckles. I probably should be going irate that I've signed my life away and I should probably be in hysterics about the reactions and consequences that will come from that but I'm not." Hermione had long since stopped rapping the tips of her fingers along her biceps as she watched him as he watched her fully, answering her dryly, honestly, and unconcerned with his revelations. "It's funny. I should be hysterical, I know I should, but I'm too bleeding caught up on you being hysterical."

"How about what your mother and father will think? Your friends? MY friends? How about the fact that _you _just got married! _We_ just got married, Draco! Are you not understanding that? How can you not be upset? You don't even love me!"

"Lucius is in Azkaban, which I'm sure you didn't forget… so why don't you try digging into some other nerve if you want to be bitter, freckles."

"Draco, I didn't mean it like…"

"I don't know why you insist on thinking I care what your friends think about me personally but I certainly still do not and since I felt a rather eerie chill sweep my body about twenty minutes prior…I'd say my mother is already here and is more than likely been filled in on my extracurricular activities so you can ask her what she thinks herself shortly, I imagine."

"And what about my parents, Draco? Hm? They've lost an entire year from me and now here I am, married, to a man that they don't even know!"

His mouth was already opening with those velvet laced words of his, she was sure, but whatever it was Draco thought about the matter would have to wait because they were both interrupted by the swift entrance of Minister Shacklebolt loaming into doorway with his large presence filling the open void.

"Well, might we all take a seat?" His broad smile never faltered, opening his large hand out and watching as the two young bodies moved to fold down into a single bench beside each other, both of their eyes and heads alike following his every move as he slid the large wood door of the room closed behind him, moving himself to sit his high posture down over the edge of the worn desk propped up adjacent to them.

"So did we pass?" Draco asked with that casual glance from off those silver flecked hues, watching as the tall man sighed to reach inside of his robes, slowly pulling either of Draco's and Hermione's wands from its deep confines before brandishing them off to the two of them, one at a time.

"Yes, your wands. Oh, no..." Hermione quickly accepting her wand as the man corrected his wording swiftly, "I didn't mean yes regarding the matter, sorry about that. No, I'm afraid you're not doing so well on this case, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy."

"Sir…have you ever met my new wife?" Draco was having far too much fun with the situation, his ever amused smirk so deeply set into the dangerous lines of his face, tilting against the corner of his mouth as he informed him, "You shouldn't tell her she's failing something. There are serious, unbelievably drastic consequences to that."

"Are you saying we can't have this mess annulled?" Hermione stretched the bright red length of her heels along the floor, sliding her weight to the end of the scarred remains of the wood bench as she gripped the edge with either hand, awaiting the answer with bated breath.

"Seriously, Sir. Her head starts spinning, foaming from the mouth, explosions and the entire works…it's not a pretty sight."

"Shut it, Draco."

The entire train to Hogwarts, this was exactly how Draco had spent the hours taking and swallowing down the news. Instead of having a holy meltdown like any rational male would have, he simply went about complying with the small requests from McGonagall and Shacklebolt, turning over his wand, owling his mother, and remaining tucked away in the back compartment awaiting the arrival of their welcoming trial at Hogwarts as he sat quietly towards the window, keeping an arm swept along Hermione's slumped shoulders. The entire ride, the entire shuffle inside Hogwarts, and the entire quick parade that had nearly drug them both into the vacant classroom awaiting the verdict of their predicament, Draco only smiled arrogantly, gliding by the people as they stopped to look and stare.

"I'm afraid that there are ten separate criteria's one must question under the process of annulment and in order for a wizarding couple to obtain said annulment, at least eight of the ten must be met in full and without shadow of a doubt." The minister watched the two of them from the slight raised posture of his single brow, trying to interject with the business of the matter before the two of them went at bickering once again. Honestly, he could have heard them all the way from the Quidditch Pitch with the way they carried on but he was on a deadline here so he attempted to press on, leaving his tone in that dull, equipped pitch.

"So it's safe to say we're not acing this one with flying colors?" Draco asked dryly, pressing his elbows down over the tops of his knees as he allowed his hands to fall slack between his parted thighs.

"Again, I'm afraid not." Shacklebolt paused, his eyes washing over the rather nonchalant stare that the young Draco Malfoy was setting back to him. It was a strange thing to watch him sit so truly unbothered by the dilemma, putting on a rather unconvincing show but for who Kingsley couldn't quite put his finger on.

"The first criteria states that one must be of sound body and mind at the time that the marriage agreement was signed."

"Sir…We were most certainly not of conscious mind because I don't even remember _talking_ to Draco about marriage. Ever! There is no way we had any idea what we were doing."

"Well my dear that was the reason for us requiring you to submit your wands. You see, the bond of marriage in the wizarding world is a very serious tie. It requires serious effort, a strong will and the desire to do so." So they'd run a spell check, literally, on their wands? Tricky fucking bastards…not that Draco was too surprised but he certainly was none too pleased. He had a strange inclining something of the nature might occur when McGonagall had so politely demanded them to turn their wands over just a few hours prior but it still left an uneasy feeling washing through his core. "Unfortunately from the degree of power from the bond that the two of you merged, willingly, I cannot believe that despite your lack of memory that you were not of solid thought, subconscious or not."

"We're being punished for our subconscious right now, freckles…do you hear that?"

"The second would be a matter of consummation." The man's large face moved slowly to set on Draco, watching as he moved his eyes up along him with silent, hesitant question but he sat still in his slack position, trying to keep that subtle grin on his from giving away every detail of his thoughts. For a moment Draco just grinned at the man, staring as Shacklebolt refused to ask him the question that needed to be asked, silently tilting his head to press Draco into telling him without any longer procrastination.

"Are you asking me if I've had sex with my wife, Sir?"

"Stop calling me that, Draco."

"Unfortunately that is precisely what I'm asking, Mr. Malfoy." They were just children to him, regardless of the fact that he knew the abilities they both were quite capable of, but the thought of either of them engaging in anything of the matter made the veins in his eyes pulse.

"I firmly do not recall laying a hand on the woman that night. I'm not even sure how I could have kissed the bride…" Draco shook his head in a furrow of thoughts, trying to piece them back together but he did truly remember telling Granger no later that night in his bed so he couldn't imagine that if he'd thought they'd gotten married that would have been the case in the slightest.

"If relations never happened or only took place prior to the marriage then there are grounds for dismissal. If relations have happened post and prior to the marriage or simply post to the marriage…well…" Shacklebolt purposely let his words drag, hoping the young man would answer him before he was forced to keep referring to this with such sketchiness.

"Well, score two for the Ministry." Draco tossed his hand up a bit, scoffing as he tipped his head back to gauge the expression burning a heavy blush over Hermione's cheeks as she stared wide eyed and horrified down at the tile.

"I see…well, perhaps we should move on to number three."

"Please move on to number three. I just want to get to dinner and get this whole mess over with." Hermione pleaded softly, trying not to tear the fabric of her dress as she strained to keep her skeleton from jumping straight out of her skin, holding onto the ledge of her seat for dear life.

"Considering the last restriction, I'm afraid I must ask if you're with child, my dear."

Hermione's breath rushed into her lungs with a fierce flow, scrunching her face so hard that Draco was sure it might actually freeze that way but she shook her head hard and without question."No, absolutely not. I'm not an idiot. Well…I got married so I am an idiot but not with that. No. No I am most certainly not pregnant." Hermione had pointed her finger to the minister to ensure he understood before she narrowed it on Draco but he only lifted either of his fists up as bit as he gave her a short laugh and a hoot of noise.

"Horaay! Score one for team Malfoy thanks to Granger not being a moron!" In a swift movement, Hermione swatted the back of her hand in against Draco's chest, her suddenly satisfied smile unable to hide itself as he let out a hard oomph of air at the impact. "

Did you even hear what just came out of your mouth? _Team Malfoy_? I can't believe I married you."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, headmistress, is it? This is just a lot to digest at the moment…" The fair skinned woman sat quite still in her large leather cushioned chair as she reached her hand across to rest along her husband's for a wave of support she was desperately searching for at the moment.<p>

"You believe their story, Minerva?" It was a much shorter tone that questioned hard into the room from the woman seated just off to the right of the overly carved desk smack dab in the center of the room.

The sour face on the elder witch, standing tall behind her desk with her fingertips gingerly resting at the edge, fell bitterly in a very tight lipped affirmation to the infamous Narcissa Malfoy as she sat so delicately with her ankles crossed over the other as she tucked them lightly off to the side of her chair. "We both know that your son is not the most forthcoming, Narcissa, but I have no choice but to believe Miss. Gran…er, Hermione's story or I wouldn't have requested you all to come here so suddenly and on such terribly short notice, I'm afraid."

The was a brief moment of pride that flashed over the young Mrs. Granger's face but it was Mrs. Malfoy, the original, as she stifled a spout of laughter from spilling from her lips by placing a delicate placement of her fingers over top of the twisting turns of her mouth that had Minerva flinching a deep frown against the pale blonde witch before her. "I'm sorry, Minerva, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, really, do pardon me…it's just that…" Narcissa could just barely control her laughter now as she moved to clutch her hand along her stomach, trying to find the will to make herself continue without the hysterics. "Oh, Mrs. Granger, you remember young love don't you?" Slowly the woman's dark eyes shifted strangely along Mrs. Malfoy as she moved to place either of her dark boots down against the ground, resting her hands over the bend of her proper knees as she watched intently for her answer.

"I can't say it ever drove me to toss back a few too many and get hitched, I'm afraid, Mrs. Malfoy. Please don't take this the wrong way but my daughter…our daughter isn't the type to just do something so irrational…"

"And as of a few weeks ago, Hermione was still head over heels with…what his name?"

"Weaselbum? Weasel_Baum_? Is it bee?" Hermione's mother questioned quietly, sighing as she realized that perhaps they were over estimating their own blood here. It was their own daughter after all who had managed to wipe herself out of existence in their lives not to mention bringing it all crashing back.

"Weasley." Percy Weasley corrected his own surname with a bit of distaste, sliding in behind the Headmistress's desk with ease as he tilted his head to accommodate the height he towered in against the older witch before him.

"Yes, Weasley." Mrs. Granger corrected herself.

"You misunderstand me, Mr. Granger…I fully believe that Draco was the root and soul cause in this incident. Your daughter is very…" Narcissa smiled genuinely at the couple as she fluttered her surprisingly dark lashes up at them. "She is a very enchanting young woman and I believe that is why my son has acted so rashly. He's been quite taken with her for some time, it seems."

"Our daughter is also not one to be persuaded away from her own hopes and desires, Mrs. Malfoy, don't get me wrong." Mrs. Granger reminded both herself and her husband with that short phrase, lowering her eyes to her own lap as she mumbled in the tinge of sadness that fell from her lips, "I just wish I could have been there. We've already missed so much."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, dear but not only did the two of you not satisfy the requirement of at least eight out of the ten criteria's that needed to be met but you both failed eight out of the ten criteria's that needed to be met." Hermione looked downright defeated, horrified and appalled all at the same time. It was quite an interesting mix of emotion on her normally upturned face and it had Draco leaning forward onto the rest of his elbows atop his knees to tilt his head in further to watch the reaction to the fullest. "Your only option is to wait a full duration of a year from the date of the bonded union and attempt to file for divorce."<p>

"Minerva?" Percy questioned the elder witch as he stood behind her, blocking her departure from leaving the open door frame of the classroom where she stood, silently peering into the scene unfolding.

Not once in Hogwarts history had they needed a precedent for this sort of situation, for something as insane as two students being married while still attending school and it left Minerva with the feeling that it was the start to a rather eventful year."Well I suppose the original sleeping quarters can be put back into order considering that our two Heads are no longer just dating. No, they had to go and decided to do something so foolish as to sign their wedding vows to each other to avoid separating." That reprimanding look was so stiffly present on the dark haired witch's stern face as she held true to that unbelievably tough emotional composure of hers, her words whipping directly to the two students in question from her distance with that hard, pinched tone of hers.

"Professor, I assure you that we did not…"

"Save it Miss…" Somehow McGonagall managed to tighten her lips a shred closer as she corrected herself before she could continue on to her prize student, "Mrs. Malfoy. I had every hope that the two of you would somehow manage not to kill each other through this year to give a beacon of hope out to the Hogwarts students and I had wanted the two of you to show unity among the houses by joining your strengths as our two new heads but I didn't realize that you two would feel the desire to go so far above and beyond." Hermione's eyes cast to the ground quickly, lowering her head with a weak press of air from her lips, "I will, no doubt, be blown away by everything my Heads do this year, now won't I?"

"Yes Professor," both Draco and Hermione answered softly into the air, turning their heads to watch as the Headmistress moved to unfold her hands only briefly before lifting them upright into the air, sighing as she slapped her thighs and moved to shoot a stern eye over to the tall Weasley just behind her shoulder as she angled round.

"Should we make an announcement?"

"No, not yet. I believe that both Mrs. Malfoy and the Grangers would like a word with their children first. They're still waiting in Albus's office. " The woman's high brow somehow managed to stiffen tighter as she nodded her head in affirmation to Hermione's questionably perking eyes. "Oh yes, my dear, they're quite anxious to have a word with you two…now if you two can manage not to screw anything else up in the next forty five minutes, I have a sorting to head. I expect that you'll be in the hall by the end of desert. Percy…"

"Yes, Professor. After you." Ever the gentleman, Percy opened his hand out as he stepped from his blocking foot, offering Hermione a sad shake to his head before he dipped out behind the swaying robes of his Headmistress, offering himself a soft smile at her insistence upon referring to her office, still, as Dumbledore's. It was the second year the quite capable witch had sat in that seat and still she never took claim to the throne.

Minerva slid her glasses along her nose as she slowed her steps into the hall, turning against her heel suddenly and fully to face Percy as she lifted a finger to request to him, "Remind me to take fifty points each from both Mr. Malfoy and his new bride…" She gave them one last judging glance from her spot in the hall through the open doorframe, continuing on irritably well before she'd tilted her head back round to the tall red head before her, "For being so _unbelievably_ stupid."

* * *

><p>"Do you think he was telling the truth?" Ginny sat still despite the constant vibration that was emitting through the walls thanks to the endless chattering of the Great Hall already in full swing. It was a strange thing, being back in the hall that was still fully under repairs. As much as Ginny wanted to focus on the sad details of the half missing candles that once filled the ceiling space above her head, she was thankful to preoccupy herself with the chaos that had erupted earlier in the day.<p>

The whole not remembering thing…" Ginny reiterated in the lack of Harry's response, sitting in the same spot on the bench that she'd managed to slide upright into when she, Harry, Luna, and Neville had practically been tossed onto it once they'd weaseled their way through the swarms of students filing to find a table, most without a house yet. It was the first year in all of Ginny's knowledge that dinner had been served prior to sorting but at the scene of pure pandemonium that had broken out merely at the mention of the Malfoy nuptials at the train station, Ginny was beginning to understand why. Still, this was a new year so with a new year came new traditions, right? She was certainly not going to bicker about being served before being yapped at.

"He looked pretty freaked out…" Luna commented softly, drawing her eyes up to Neville to gauge his thoughts on the matter but he was far too busy watching to confliction setting into Harry's face from where he sat just across the row of him to acknowledge her with more than a small agreeing nod to Luna's observation.

"They've been gone for over hour…and I think I saw Malfoy's mum with the Minister." This time, Neville actually spoke to the raven haired man sitting there staring at the polished shine of his black boots from beneath the table, ignoring the food untouched on his plate but Harry didn't actually have any words to say in response to any of them.

I mean, he'd just barely began to process the fact that Hermione was all too serious about dating Malfoy, and that Malfoy seemed all too serious about dating Hermione but now he was going to have to find a way to understand the fact that she was very much, indeed, married to the man, as it turns out. To be fully honest, Harry wanted to rip Draco's smug little head clean off but the more he wanted to hate him, the more Harry realized that doing such would only push Hermione further and further to him but how much further could she really run into the man? She was already his wife…the only thing worse than that would be having his children! Harry gave a rather visual shift at the thought sweeping his brain, his head dropping to his waiting palm with a well needed smack to his forehead to try and dislodge the thought of his best female friend knocked up with the Prince of Peroxide's baby.

"How could she be so stupid?"

"Harry…" Ginny too had been shocked rigid in her seat with her feet planted fully on the ground, her hands resting over the bend of her knees but Harry's comment had her head turning to scowl against him regardless of her stand still posture before she shook it fully at him, "Hermione is not stupid."

"She said she was so drunk she doesn't even know how it could be possible, Gin…that seems like the perfect way to describe someone who's acted really stupid, don't you think?" Harry's tone was a bit louder then Ginny was sure he'd intended but his words were a bit colder than she truly wanted him to be intending. "Ok, fine, how could she _do_ something so stupid?"

There was a small shift Harry gave in his seat at the quiet silence that answered him back, leaving him to clear his throat lowly while he moved to brush the frame of his glasses up against the bridge of his nose, pressing the thin line of his lips firmly together under his rapid firing thoughts as his brain triggered the memory of his small encounter with Draco outside the train.

"_Potter! Wait up!" Malfoy lifted his hand up into the air, his brows inclined as he caught sight with Harry. He looked rather annoyed with himself, tensely straightening his school tie that he was still trying to swagger on, slithering his way through the crowd with a rather quick pace to interrupt Harry on his way to collect his baggage. _

"_Malfoy…I suggest you talk in short words and short sentences because I truly want to dismember you right now." Harry showed no need to hide his true emotions but deep down beneath it all; Draco loved that about his rival because it always made things interesting. Potter may have hated Draco's guts but he didn't pretend and whisper about it behind his back. No, Harry told him up front with a serious set to his face._

"_You Gryffindor's are always so peachy…" There was a brief sound that grunted at the back of Harry's throat, leaving Draco to give his own groan while he moved to stand opposite of the man, his mouth wincing back as he fought his own tongue and brain to get the words out, "Listen, I need your help."_

"_You just got my best friend sloshed and hitched and you want my help? Sod off. The only reason I'm not slicing you to bits myself is because you are in fact married to her and half of Hogwarts is standing around me. That doesn't make us chums. "_

"_Alright…let me rephrase." Draco let the word drag off his tongue, tilting his head before he explained, "I want your help. Unfortunately there is a very large difference, Potter but I have no delusions on our friendship so let us not get that twisted."_

_Harry stood staring the small couple of inches up that Draco stood over him, his arms making a firm motion to toss up and tighten hard over his chest to keep his hands from doing what they truly wanted to do. "What could you_ possibly_ want my help with? And where the hell is my best friend while we're at it."_

"_She would be trying to get out of the mess that I undoubting got her into but I need your help stopping her from doing that." Harry didn't make a noise, not a single sound as he stared at Draco with utter disbelief. "I need a vile of…"_

"_Again, sod off, Malfoy. I'm not helping you drug Hermione. I mean, what the hell is wrong with you?"_

"_Potter…really?" Draco lifted a hand out in the air, his mouth slightly agape as he shook his head at the ignorance that had just spilled from the man's mouth. "I am talking about a mixture of pensieve and…"_

"_I'm not even sure how to get that, Malfoy or even what you're talking about."_

"_God damnit, Potter, you know what pensieve is. You are not making this easy." Those cerulean heats were open wide and set hard into the man, trying to ignore the heavy stares washing behind them as the students slid to collect their things. "Snape made a vile, a mixture of it and a few other things that I don't know, a few years back, left it stored in his personal closet. If she takes it…she'll remember everything."_

"_You're already married so it doesn't even matter how you got there so why does this even matter to you?" Harry was thoroughly unamused, not to mention completely confused, at what it was, and why it was, Draco wanted Harry's help on this strange little matter._

"_Ah but it does matter, Potter, because it fucking matters to her." Malfoy didn't seem all too thrilled as it was to stand there talking to him but he looked even less pleased to be asking for a favor. "She'll remember every moment from that night…everything I can't. I mean, go ask her how I managed to convince the smartest witch of our time to do the stupidest thing she'd ever do in her life and then come back to me and tell me you don't want to help me, Potter."_

_Harry stood still for awhile, watching Draco from beneath the down turn of his head and from over the dull rim of his rounded glasses before he gave him a rather defeated press of air to hiss out from his lips. "She could hate you after this…you have no idea what could come out. You might not be so chivalrous in this sudden noble act here, Malfoy."_

"_I understand that, Potter and I accept those terms but if I'm truly a monster and mean her nothing but evil then you have nothing to fear by helping me hang myself." A small shrug moved through Draco's broad shoulders, tucking both of his hands low into the depths of his pockets as he added, "She needs to remember and it's the least I can do but you are the only one who can get back into Snape's personal storage without being detected…so here we are."_

_It was a risk that even Harry was not sure he wanted to take. Not the breaking into Snape's personal stash of potions and plundering, no, it was what the particular potion that Malfoy was requesting did that had Harry thinking twice about receiving to test out on one of his closest surrogate kin. It was strong and unpredictable at best, and while Malfoy assured Harry that he would try it on himself first, Harry was terrified what the results could unveil. On one end, Hermione could see Draco for the monster that Harry still half believed that he was. She could discover he meant no good to her when he supposedly saved her last year, if the thing worked that far back, and that he has no real genuine motives for her well being now but on the other end, Harry was finding himself paranoid that there was a slight possibility that he could actually be wrong and that Hermione would only find herself more and more compelled to stay with self proclaimed former Death Eater._

"_I'll see what I can do…but I'm not making any promises."_

"_Well that's more than I could have hoped for, Potter. Thanks." Perhaps Draco didn't mean to appear arrogant…oh who was Harry kidding? Of course he did. Even then, asking him for a favor to impress, woe, or whatever he was trying to do with Hermione he appeared smug as he offered his hand out to him, raising his brows daftly when Harry simply looked at the protruding appendage being held out to him._

"_Right." Against his better judgment, and with those hunter green eyes of his watching carefully against Draco's mercurial ones, Harry sent his hand out to give Draco's a firm shake, tearing his hand and his body away with as much swiftness as he could manage before he added, "Not doing it for you though, Malfoy."_

"_Wouldn't have it any other way, Potter."_

"Percy said they signed the license last week." Ginny interjected, snapping Harry from his drifting thoughts as his girlfriend tried to keep the situation as calm as she possibly could, "You think they got hitched the night she and Ron broke up?"

"She would have had to." Harry whispered back harshly, his vibrant eyes darting around the table to ward off the leaning ears just dying to dive further into the rumors that had already began circulating but even they could hear the bright, loud tone of Pavarti Patil blundering from down the table.

"Have you seen it? Have you seen Wondering Witch?" Pavarti came bounding down the row towards the back of the Gryffindor table, her voice reaching the party intended, and everyone else in radius, far before her body approached brandishing a rather tussled magazine in her hand and straight out before Lavender's quirking face. "Tell me you've seen it…"

"What is it?" Lavender popped up from beneath the loving arm of Ron far quicker than he was prepared as she literally bounced onto the edge of her seat when Pavarti tossed herself down on the bench adjacent, practically shoving a third year down to make way for herself with little to no concern. Her thin fingers grasped at either side of the front cover, holding her arms straight before her as Lavender grasped at own her knees, bending her head to eye the gossipy cover stories.

There was a small pause of sound on Lavender's lips before she gasped out loud dramatically, lifting her head up above the pages, her eyes wildly open up at her best friend with that girlish grin desperately stretching her face wide.

"It's got to be true! You heard them outside…it's got to be! It's right here."

"What is it?" It was Ron's turn to slide down his seat, frowning as the two girls so fond of slander quickly patted the magazine off in front of him and onto the one empty spot not littered with dishes and plates of food, the both of them pointing adjacently to the small article on the bottom of the page.

"Hermione Jean Granger weds Draco Lucius…son of a bitch." Ron felt his fingertips clench along the semi glossed pages, his heart twanging with a rapid pace of blood shooting through his veins. Suddenly the room felt far too warm, feeling his breath panting at his chest as he squirmed to keep his composure but he was alone in this. There was no one for him to rant his rage to and there was no one to feel the turmoil burning down into his core. His own girlfriend was geeked beyond capacity at the thought while his best friend and sister sat staring daggers from down the row anytime Lavender's voice reached one of her protruding pitches.

He'd felt downright terrible about everything in all honesty. The way he and Hermione had finally ended, the way he'd chosen to go about it, and lastly among the long list of regrets was his choice to sit down with The Daily Prophet for that stupid interview considering how badly they'd twisted his words anyways. He'd almost owled her the second he'd read how poorly they'd made her out to be, trying to explain that he hadn't said a word about her and Draco sneaking around because deep down even he knew it wasn't true but he knew it'd only make matters worse. Still, the slandering words that he'd kept reading over and over again over the last few days had Ron's heart sinking in a horrible light, almost wishing for her back so he could believe that they weren't true and this recent article clutched in his hands was certainly not helping matters.

"Won-Won and I were right there when Draco asked Minister Shacklebolt when he'd get their copy of the marriage license in the post." Lavender practically purred the words out to Pavarti, their faces matching a lopsided grin, dreamily discussing his ex and her supposed current activities.

"Malfoy didn't…" Ron started bitterly, shrinking his eyes back to the article at Lavender's scolding look for calling a bluff on her words. He'd heard the minister say something about a license in the mail but he'd prayed he'd heard the whole Mrs. Malfoy thing incorrectly. Hermione could never do that, right? Ron had a horrible feeling that Draco was out to get her when he'd broken and fractured half of his face but even Ron would have never thought that Malfoy was out to _marry_ her. Hermione would never have done something so stupid as to marry Malfoy just to hurt him like…well, like he'd hurt her. Ron lowered his head with that residual thought crashing behind his eyes, listening to Pavarti gossip so freely about the supposed new nuptials, his eyes lost on the words burning back to him.

* * *

><p>"What's the verdict?"<p>

"You were right there, Draco. You heard him …we're married. That's pretty much that."

Hermione had a rather quick pace in her heels, trying to make her way quickly up to the office that she was so used to Dumbledore residing in to face her parents with a sudden desire but Draco spun on his heel rather quickly at her comment. Long, nimble fingers shot out to clasp hold of her biceps, halting her in her steps as he leaned his face down against her, "I comprehended that part, freckles. I meant with you…"

There was a sad sigh that parted Hermione lips, the overwhelming day already proving far too exhausting for her as she lifted her dark eyes up to the crystal blue of his own while she admitted truthfully, "I'm scared beyond words right now, Malfoy. Terrified really…my parents will never forgive me for getting married without them. I've already put them through enough and I just robbed them in what was supposed to be the hugest moment in my life separate from child birth."

"Wow, you've given your wedding a lot of thought, Granger."

He never took his hand from hers but he tossed his head back a bit none the less as Hermione added crossly, "I'm a girl, Malfoy. Of course I have!" Her lashes fluttered down low to shield her true thoughts away from him, her body sliding from the nearness of his own as she pulled her fingers from their entwinement with his, "I just ruined everything that I've ever wanted and I can't even remember why I did it."

Slowly, Draco motioned his path back around to face her, sliding his fingers up to brush over to fall of her cheek while he neared her. "They're your parents…if you're happy then they'll be happy. I mean, in all the years I've known you, Weasel is the only thing that you have done and continued to repeat that has disappointed me so I'm pretty sure that there is not much you could do to disappoint your parents."

"Is it natural to want to kick your husband all the time?" She wasn't really asking him a question but she certainly wasn't doing a very good job showing him that she had it in her to convince anyone, especially himself, that she was happy in the least at the moment.

"For anyone else? No. For the Malfoy's? Absolutely." Hermione relaxed her face into the touch of Draco's palm as it slid against her soft flesh, bending his head down to softly capture her lips with his own in a slow, precise kiss. For a small moment, Hermione let herself melt against his touch, allowing her mouth to let his strength feed into her while he lowly let his fingers stroke her jaw line but she slid to break the moment and the embrace all at the same time as she maneuvered her body up a step.

"See? Where was the fine print with that one in it?"

With one hand clasping hold of one of the thin brass side rails leading the stairs, his opposite gingerly moved with the effort to grasp hold of Hermione's hand for the second time, smiling back at himself with a bit of satisfaction as she allowed her fingers to be taken captive. Draco made every move to attempt to distract her from all the chaotic thoughts that had been swirling around in her head once again while he moved his body up that single step to join her, breathing the words to whisper down against her with all of the sincerity he could muster, "I'll find a way to make this right to you."

Each step Hermione took up the long narrow staircase had her heart sinking deeper and further into her stomach. Under the careful touch of Draco's hand, they carefully drug their way up to the confrontation she wasn't fully prepared to have.

"Why couldn't we have just gotten drunk and shagged? Why'd we have to get married?" That terrible rhythm beat its pulse in against Hermione's eardrums, turning her head hard up to the man standing tall at her side as she continued to question him, "Why couldn't we have just been satisfied with dealing with people knowing we're dating?"

"That's a lot of whys, freckles."

"Hermione?" Her eyes were already cast up at Draco but they averted quickly up the bend of the staircase at the call of her name.

"Mum?"

"Hermione!" Suddenly all those whys that seemed to have the woman, that he was trying to do nothing more than make happy in a bad situation, forgetting all about her reasons and lighting up like a Christmas tree. Those chocolate orbs of hers pulled wide at the rims, the corners of her mouth involuntarily pulling open as she bolted from her spot and Draco's touch alike to finish the short distance remaining to the former Headmaster Dumbledore's anything but quaint office residing at the top.

"I'm sorry…Draco, is it?" By the time Draco had finished making his way up the stairs, Hermione had already tossed herself into the large room and found her arms clutching tightly around her mother with an equal bonded strength.

"Mr. Granger, I presume?" The fair skinned man pulled his lips back into a soft, rather polite smile as he smoothed his hand out of the pocket of his drab, gray sweater that he had buttoned tightly along his thin frame before extending it to Draco as he continued on, "I'll say, I'm not sure what I was expecting son but I don't believe you're it."

"I know exactly what you mean, Sir…Pleasure to finally meet you, wish it was under different circumstances." Those pristine blue hues darted to the two women still hugging tenderly, lightly stroking each other's faces before he thrust his hand out to give the man a firm shake, motioning out with his opposite. "I trust you've met my mother."

"Yes, yes, we've had the pleasure of discussing this surprising situation together." Mr. Granger shook Draco's hand honestly, his smile genuine as he too moved to embrace his daughter, paying no mind as Narcissa moved to stand from her chair to greet her son but folded back to her chair as he only waved the gesture off dismissively.

Instead, Draco smoothed to close the distance, bending down against his knee in front of the aristocratically seated creature, lifting her hand to softly place his lips to the back of her knuckles as his tone dropped barely above a whisper to the one he'd meant it to, "I trust your trip was well?"

"A trip to see my son is always a trip well spent…is this my daughter in law?" Narcissa had still yet to remove herself from that proper position but she did lift her brows to the happy union of family crowding arms around the young witch who was attempting to shimmy around to face her.

"Yes, mother, you should remember Hermione, formerly, Granger."

"Mrs. Malfoy…" Hermione bit back the turn of her forced smile, trying to motion forward to shake the woman's hand but it seemed Draco adopted the trait for a reason as she too waved off Hermione's attempt, shaking her head only in the slightest as to never jar those perfectly laid platinum white curls of hers.

"No need to be so formal, my dear…" She too forced on a smile, daring her eyes to drift towards her son with a sad shake of her head as she added, "Why didn't you owl sooner, Drake?"

"It didn't exactly go that way, mother, as I'm sure McGonagall told you."

"Mom…I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to disappoint you…I just…"

"'Mione, my dear, whatever are you apologizing for? We're shocked, yes but disappointed? In you? Oh honey, no, never." Hermione's mother began, cupping her daughter's face between her hands as her father added in, "I'm quite excited to be here actually…I believe this is the first time you've done anything that required us to appear on school grounds for conference."

"I am not proud of that, dad."

"Mrs. Malfoy and I just wish we had been able to see you confess your love…" Mrs. Granger attempted to explain softly, trying to hint away from her own sadness at the sight of her daughter's uneasy nature.

"That would be where I come in." Draco rose slowly from his knee, his weight pressing upward as he loamed to turn, standing just off from the distance there in front of his mother, "Hermione's the one who wanted the traditional wedding and I royally fucked that up."

Narcissa was fully motioning with her hand to Mrs. Granger at her son's mention of him being the soul initiator in the messy union, whether she knew his statement to be fake or not, before he insisted on using such language, finding herself leaning forward to swat the back of her hand against his elbow as she scolded him softly. "Draco!"

Hermione had to bite back a smile at the flinch on Draco's face, pressing out a, "Forgive me," before he shrugged off the reprimand, pressing to continue, " I should have waited and done things correctly with the ring and the dress and the vows…Hermione deserves a proper wedding as do all of you."

"Draco, whatever it is you're trying to do, just no." There was a warning finger lifting against him from his new found wife but he could only muster the strength to strain his mixture of lies and truths into a web out at her parents, trying to mend a bit of the pain he'd no doubt caused her now.

"I would like to marry your daughter, Sir. Well…again."

If Hermione could have rationalized breaking any one of the priceless items that were hovering around Dumbledore's former office, she would have but she settled on tossing her hand up with a hard scoff as her dad raised his brows in the confusion, "I don't believe my opinion on that matters since the act is already done, am I wrong, son?"

"We're only married in the wizarding world, Sir, and while we may have different traditions here, I overlooked some very important muggle traditions that were and are incredibly important to Hermione." Draco hadn't felt this nervous sitting next to Voldemort as he breathed that rancid breath of his down against the side of his cheek but he stood before Mr. Granger none the less, gesturing with his hands, unsure of what else to do in order not to make himself appear as foolish as he felt but Hermione's father only made a look of questioning while he cocked his head off to the side.

"Are you in love with my daughter, Draco?"

"I…" the question had literally took Draco a step back, his face mirroring the shock drifting along his bones as he attempted to make his words form together into English. "I'm not sure how to answer that, Sir." Love? That was a bizarre thought but considering the man was asking him if he loved his wife, it didn't seem too out of place. Still, Draco wasn't sure if he could call his dark, brooding obsession over the witch a description for love.

"But you want my permission to marry my daughter…the traditional way? When as I understand it the two of you aren't too sure you'll stay newly nuptial after the year is through?"

Draco's head, eyes, and hands all dropped with a beaten sigh parting way of his lips, "Sir…I care about your daughter more than I've ever had to admit." Hermione let out a hard snort at Draco's attempt to explain his feelings for her, shaking her head desperately at his rash idea that she swore he had just pulled out of his arse before he moved his eyes and words to her instead, "I want to be freaked out right now but I can't because I'm too worried about you being upset…marry me, Hermione. Marry me the muggle way and let me make this right. It's the only thing I can do."

Mrs. Granger had moved the touch of her fingers feather light up against her own heart, gasping silently at the display before her as she found herself drifting back to seat her body back along the front edge of the desk, her eyes alive with sparkles despite the hard look of disbelief that had washed over her own daughters face as she stared the man proposing at her dead locked in her sights.

"How exactly is the two of us signing another marriage license going to fix anything, Malfoy?"

"Because I don't remember…" His voice had started so strong, raising his tone and hand all alike before it dawned on him that they were very much not alone, sighing to numb his irritation while he smoothed his fingers in against the short strands of blonde, "I know you don't love me but you could…if you let yourself." Before Hermione could fit Draco with the answer she didn't have, he moved his sights onto the woman responsible for the witch troubling his life and thoughts so terribly. "I don't deserve your daughter in the least but at least I know that. I will always put her first before all others, I could never harm her like she's been harmed…believe me I've tried." This time it was Narcissa's turn to place her hand over the fluttering in her heart, the warm smile oddly pulling those pastel rose tinted tiers of hers as Draco moved to match his sights onto Mr. Granger, "I'm only asking for your blessing, Sir. I still fully expect her to turn me down."

"I am right here, Draco Malfoy. Stop talking about me like I'm not!"

"Do you see? This is why I wish your blessing but expect nothing. Your daughter is a difficult woman to please." The boy didn't look to be any older than eighteen to Harold Granger but he spoke like a man of thirty, being pulled apart from all angles. Both the young Malfoy and his daughter alike seemed terrified on completely separate levels but it looked to him as thought the young Draco was hell bent to give his daughter some satisfaction here, even if it meant damning himself further. He was trying to give Hermione the wedding she'd always dreamt of even though he was saying he wasn't the man that she'd probably dreamt it to be with.

"Are you high?" Why did he have to do this here? Why did he have to do this in front of her parents and his own mother who were all looking expectantly at her with those romance dripping gazes lulling over their faces.

"What? Fuck, Granger…why do you always think I'm high now? No I'm not…" Draco growled heavily at the back of his throat, narrowing his finger and sight down against her as he firmly continued, "I mean it! The ring, the dress, the daddy giving you away…the asking to marry you! The way you wanted it, the way it should have been."

That drunken night with Draco was still quite a vacant void in her brain but Hermione was pretty sure that this wasn't the way that Draco had convinced her to marry him the first time around what with the hostile heat radiating off his glare. "Yes, well how about the love, hm? How about the fact that I was supposed to be head over heels in love with the man I walked down the aisle with? Or how about remembering it!"

"Why do you think I'm trying to get you to marry me you silly witch! I can't remember what the hell I said that was so dashing that I managed to get the almighty Granger to sign her name to my own or I'd say it right now, believe me. Marry me, Hermione…I can't make you love me but if you just say yes then I'll spend every day of the next three hundred and sixty five days attempting to. One year. It's your choice and I won't put up a fuss if you break it off after."

"Do you understand how fucked up this is?" Hermione found her arms folding loosely over her chest once again; trying to watch as he awkwardly shifted his weight onto either leg.

"Do it for the money, if nothing else."

"Are you kidding me right now!"

"No…there was no prenuptial agreement involved so as it stands, upon our divorce, half of everything I own is yours…which is nothing to kid about. I mean, it's an obscene amount of cash just to say you'll marry me for a year."

"I hate you so much right now for even suggesting that…"

"Is that true?" Mrs. Granger asked her husband but his face offered little answers as he shrugged to her, his hands held upright as he turned his attention to Mrs. Malfoy.

"We come from a wealthy family," Narcissa offered far too proudly, her posture tightening up as she smiled brightly to the both of them.

"I am not suggesting anything regarding your want for my money, freckles; I am simply informing you of the present situation. If you agree to marry me, again, then you can ensure you have either side of my assets covered." Draco dryly cocked his brows and maneuvered his head around to acknowledge the shocked expression of either of the Granger's as he corrected his mother's statement, "_I_ am a very wealthy man."

Leave it to Draco to make marriage into a business proposal. "You have muggle accounts? Never mind, I don't give a fuck about it so why are you even saying it?"

"I have dozens spread out here and there and I don't know! Maybe because I'm willing to say anything right about now to just get you to say yes!"

"Draco Malfoy!" Hermione shouted, unable to think of a better response in the heat of the moment.

"Hermione Malfoy!" Draco mimicked back, angling his body to match her own childishly.

"Draco, my boy…" Hermione gave her foot a hard stomp at his joke, her fists wadded tightly down at her sides as she stared hard against his futile attempts before her mother's soft voice stole their raving attention towards her resting position. "I think you love my daughter very much." The room fell silent, a heavy quiet wave crashing along the room and causing no commotion while she continued with full attention from her audience. "You already put my daughter first; it seems, willing to set her up financially for life all for the chance of her love. It's all quite romantic."

"Mum!"

"I'm not finished, dear." Mrs. Granger spoke so calmly, so sweetly in a way only a mother could as she softened her stare and smile alike down onto Draco while she motioned a finger out to her daughter's quick mouth. "As much as I wish I had been present, I'm afraid this gesture is unnecessary. If the two of you truly wish to give us a ceremony, then there is no need to sign a new marriage agreement just because you can't terminate the old one."

"It's not the same…" Both Mrs. Malfoy and Hermione mumbled the words into the air, the two of them turning their head simultaneously to meet each other at the coincidence. Narcissa lifted her pale brows up, unable to stop the satisfied, and terribly amused, grin that had parted her pale painted lips wide.

"Everyone already knows, or will by the end of this night that we're married and I can't make up for that to Hermione or I would so this is the next best thing I can do is give her everything I should have in the first place." Draco turned against Hermione, his face softening as he offered out a thought to her, "Think about it, freckles. I can't give you your first wedding back and make it all the way it should have been but I can give you your first muggle wedding…and not fuck it up, I think." The words weren't ringing too well in his ears, finding himself sighing out at his own poor choice at trying to win her over before he added to her, "You don't have to answer me now, I mean I haven't even put a ring on your finger. I'm just asking you to think about it."

* * *

><p>"Hey!" Draco flinched back, his steps faltering to stop as he rocked on his heels at the hard swat of Hermione's hand impacting against his chest, "What the hell?"<p>

"Do you always get what you want, Malfoy?" She didn't look as truly angry with him as she had when he'd initially asked her father to marry her a few moments before but she didn't look much happier with the whole idea as she situated her Head badge against the sharp black of her school robes, shuffling down the hall in a heightened pace towards the Great Hall.

"Are you saying yes?"

"No I'm not saying yes! Gods…"

* * *

><p>The first time Ron had kissed Lavender, while being with Hermione, he felt rather excited from the forbiddingness of it all but the more intense the relationship became, Ron felt himself becoming more and more tired of the life he had. One moment, he was seeing Hermione is this awestruck light and the next she was replaced with the blonde now desperately clutching at his side. At first he told himself it was because everything was reversed with Lavender. With her, he was the smart one, he was the strong one, and now he was the one who was constantly annoyed and pushing off her drooling advances that never seemed to cease but slowly, Ron became more and more spiteful that he was lying to himself in his relationship with Hermione, doing what he was. Still, knowing that he couldn't stop the grass is greener thoughts from protruding in his skull; Ron had begun doing the only thing that he thought that he could.<p>

They always argued as it was, even before they'd began dating but the fights were becoming more and more heated anytime he dared attempted to spend time with his actual girlfriend so eventually Ron just stopped. He stopped trying to come home and lie, he stopped lashing out on Hermione with false accusations because he felt guilty, and he stopped trying to deny the truth of what he thought was the best decision he could make. Ron had no intention of Hermione walking in on him that night but at the time, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Now, well, now he just wanted to hide beneath a rock. Fuck the weight of the stones.

What had he done?

_Hell hath no fury like a woman scored_.

His own sister snarled those words at him during dinner last night when he walked in with Lavender whining empathically for a kiss, lavishly draped over his arm. He'd expected to find everything he'd ever given Hermione aflame in his yard, he'd expected her to tell everyone what a monster he'd been to her, and he'd truly expected her murder the woman he'd replaced her with that night the riot went down outside his bedroom door from the way his own flesh and blood was treating him from the incident, not to mention his best friend, but dating Malfoy? No, strike that. Marrying Malfoy? This wasn't right.

* * *

><p>"Hermione?" Draco's lips were pressed hard into a smile, his hand smoothed around her back, pulling her in against his side as they neared the hall. "How about now?"<p>

"Can we just get through tonight? _Please_?" Her voiced pleaded, trying not to find the comfort emitted back from his arm so strongly holding her in against him as they moved towards the undeniably huge, open doors of the hall, the chatter still in full swing as they approached swiftly. It was funny, Hermione had dreaded this moment for a long time, walking through the double story, double width doors that had lead to one of the darkest battles Hermione ever had the displeasure of remembering but here she stood, closing in on them and the only thing she could think of was the stares that would be gaping back inside.

"Fine, fine, I'll stop, but only for tonight." The dark shadow against Draco's chin was tipped up far above properly, smirking that arrogant smirk of his as he reminded her without need, "We do have families to notify if there are plans to be made, remember? Did you see my mother's face when I started talking about a wedding dress by the way?" Draco added the last part to her completely off the record of the argument, drawing his mouth back as he mocked a scared face, "I was truly worried for you for a moment."

"Oh my Merlin, Won-won look!" Hermione's face was scrunched up against Draco rather severely from his words as he mocked to seal them with a rather sloppy kiss when the horrible nickname, that no one could forget was associated with Ronald Weasley, sharply sounded into the air just as Draco and Hermione attempted to smooth into the back of the hall undetected rather unsuccessfully.

"Fuck me…" Ron wasn't fully aware of his body drifting upright from his seat, the article falling flat over his plate as he pressed his palms down into the table at the sight of Hermione pressed up along Malfoy's all too smiling body but he was fully aware of his voice as he questioned her existence to truly be her own, "Hermione?"

Draco's smooth steps had just barely made it around the back of the Gryffindor table, the commotion leaving an almost inaudible groan parting his lips as the all too familiar red head stood up in wide eyed bewilderment. There was a very vivid jolt that shot through Hermione's body at the sight of Ronald Weasley stepping out from the bench as he shrugged off his new girlfriend's grasping hand with his mouth slack, trying not to leap at the sight of Draco with his hands on the short brunette he'd grown so accustomed to putting his own hands on.

"My, Weasley…how's they face?" Draco waved his own hand in front of his eyes, peering forward at the evidence of bruising still faded in a strange yellow tint around the sallow complexion of Weasley's eye socket.

"Is it true? What everyone's saying?" There was a possessive tightening of Draco's splayed fingers and Hermione couldn't help but let her eyes drift around the hushing silence that was beginning to fill the space around them just as everyone was settling into desert. Slowly, Hermione found the hard contrast of green staring up at her, his body half perched in his seat, just ready to leap out of it at first moment's notice and Hermione suddenly found the will to hold her strength and ground as she sucked it through Harry's support.

"Tell me, what is it everyone is saying, Ronald?" Hermione feigned a look of concern, rolling her eyes harshly at the bewildered hope that lost itself behind Ron's face while he completely ignored Draco's presence. His large eyes were open wide, set dead straight forward on Hermione but she only could offer him a lift scoff of a laugh as she tossed her hands up mildly. What could she say to him? She was still wrapping her mind around what it was that everyone was saying herself.

"You actually _married_ the ferret?"

"Hey now, you actually shacked up with a bimbo so we thought it was only fair." That comment finally had Ron turning his attention, shifting his eyes to glare daggers in against Malfoy's never ending and always offending words, watching him carefully while he stepped fully round to angle to him, leaving Hermione out of the standoff.

"You leave Lav out of this you bloody Death Eater!"

The room was already quiet enough as it was with the students and the professors alike watching and straining to listen intently but now it was deafeningly quiet at the horrible titled being accusingly shouted against someone there in the hall. There was a loud laugh that erupted from Draco's mouth, honestly amused as he retorted back to Ron, "I never said I was referring to your girlfriend, Weasel!"

"Is it true? Tell me it's not!" Ron was beginning to boil and even Hermione could feel it but his face was a bit lost as he squinted his eyes in silent pleading for Hermione to answer him, praying for her to tell him it was all some terrible lie.

"You don't owe this fuck any explanations, love. Come on let's…"

"Don't you fucking call her that, ferret!"Ah, the well known Weasley temper flared upon that strike over the hidden nerve and Hermione found herself flinching a bit back in Draco's arm at Ron's sharp reaction but that didn't seem to settle too well with Draco.

Draco seemed all too less than thrilled as he slowly removed his arm from Hermione, smoothing to angle his shoulder before her and stepping a small space closer towards the nearly shouting red head. "You have no right to show any concern for what it is that she does with her life after what you did," his words were low and venomous, his sights set straight as he hissed them out against him.

"This is utter bullshit." The words breathed heatedly through the clench of Ron's teeth, crossly pressing his word out as he lifted a finger threateningly against Draco, "I don't believe you." That finger smoothed over the crowd, angling it to his own flesh and blood as she folded her arms firmly over her chest, staring at him in disbelief as he questioned her, "Is it true?"

"Don't start this," Was all Ginny managed out before Draco had to go snapping his words and everyone listening back to the trio that had stood to exchange words.

"Believe it, Weasel. We tied the knot last week. Oh, what day was that honey?" Draco's façade was beginning to make her feel like a pawn with the false way he questioned her, all arouse to get beneath Ron's skin but it was unnecessary considering how unnerved he already was with the way he was dripping with concern right in front of his newly shacked up with girlfriend. "I believe it was, oh how did you put it…_the happiest day of your life. _Oh, yes, wasn't that the same day you two broke up? Remind me what day that was, Weasley, would you? I seem to be having a hard time with my memory lately." Yep, she really wanted to smack him and Hermione was heavily weighing the thought in her brain the entire while she watched him succeed in verbally lashing the man she was sure he still wanted to physically pummel.

"How could you have married, Malfoy? On the day we broke up?" There was a loud, very verbal gasp emitted through the hall, the first years desperately trying to understand what all the soap opera drama was about that had everyone so damn glued on the display.

"You should have broken up with me a year ago, Ronald. You know, the same day you started shagging Lavender." Hermione moved aside from Draco's protectively blocking view, her hands daftly along her hips as she raised her face fully to him, sneering lowly at the second wave of gasps sounding astounded at her revelation.

"I deserve that, I do…"

"Won-won?" The pet name that sleazy slag insisted on calling Ron sent a rather harsh shiver through Hermione's body, finding her teeth biting down in a hard hold to keep her from hexing the woman until she could only speak in slurs and gibberish like she spoke most of the time anyways.

"Yes, Ronald Weasley, among many other things."

"You and your little dog too."

"Shut it, Draco."

"Yes, shut your stupid mouth, ferret!" Ron snapped, his face growing a few shades in a radiating red at his temping just daring to fume up.

"Don't you tell my husband to shut up, Ronald Weasley!" It was with a sudden fury that Hermione set her tone sharply against the red head before her, raising her finger to point hard out at him with a fierce shake. "What you did…" There was nearly a whimpered sigh that threatened to fall from Hermione's lips but she bit it back as she lifted a waggling digit to point at Ron fully, "You deserve nothing from me."

"Congratulations you two!" Lavender interjected in her sweetest tone, moving forward from the seat, practically falling over herself to lace her arms tightly around Ron's bicep all in one clumsy motion. She looked so downright bewitched as she swooned up at him, completely oblivious to the glum, downcast pinch to his mouth as he awkwardly tried to question his ex.

"Yes, it must feel nice to know that the woman you fucked over is off the market so you don't have to worry about your boyfriend realizing what he missed out on, isn't it?" The look on Lavender's face, just so wild and giddy a moment before, dropped in a matter of seconds like Draco had literally smacked her in the face. Lavender actually let out a whimper from the sting of his words, stumbling back a step when he leaned his face forward a miniscule to warn her, "Won't stop him from second guessing though, will it?"

Potter climbed out of his seat with much haste, his head turning to Hagrid as his large form began to make his way up but found himself plumping back rather ungracefully at Harry's departure to the scene. For a moment, everyone had been held hostage by their own gossiping thoughts, prying into their lives while they were on display before them but it was beginning to become a bit out of hand and it was better Potter respond before they all get another firm tongue lashing from the already distempered McGonagall.

"What do you care, Ronald? I mean, really. You moved on with Lavender," Hermione forced herself not to refer to the woman who was already looking like she was ready to burst into tears as she clutched onto the youngest male Weasley, trying desperately to be the sole being grasping his attention, as a downright home wrecking slut as she continued, "And now I've moved on."

"You heard her, Weasel."

"You can't mean that. I mean…not that you've moved on but…" No, honestly Ron did not believe that it was possible she could move on, that was an utter lie. He was shocked to the core that she could even let another man near her let alone the way Malfoy was buddying up to her every time he saw the two of them plastered in the paper recently. Up until the moment that Ron turned to see Hermione's face fall watching him shad Lavender in his bed, he'd never doubted that she was one hundred percent in love with him and now she stood there like it all meant nothing. It just wasn't Hermione. "You don't have to date Malfoy just to get back at me."

It was Hermione that laughed outright at that comment, shaking her head at the silliness that was dripping from Ron's mouth before she firmly answered back to his accusation, "I am not dating Malfoy, I _married_ him, and you are certainly not important enough to do either of those things to get back at you Ronald Weasley."

Draco was none to unaware at the slowly approaching Potter but he was far too focused on keeping his attention from wavering from the short tempered moron hovering dangerously close to the witch at his side. A small jolt flared up the muscles of Draco's arm when he felt the cool sensation of a hard substance being enclosed softly and swiftly into his hand, tilting his head only in the slightest as Potter cooly offered out to Hermione, "Hey, we saved you a plate. Come on, bullocks to all this." Always the voice of reason, Harry Potter swooped in to politely attempt to escort Hermione over to the place Draco had intended to get her in the first place before _their_ friend decided to interject but Draco paid it no mind as he lowered his hands into his pocket.

For one small moment, Draco's hard sapphire hues slid against Harry's, slowly lowering his head to nod his gratitude at the vile he fingered inside the depths of his robes, nodding once again as Harry raised his brows in expectation that Draco hold true to everything that he promised.

"Of course, Saint Potter to the rescue," Ron bitterly spat at the back of Harry's head.

"Ronald Weasley you will not talk to him that way!" Ginerva Weasley's voice boomed through the hall louder then she'd even intended but it certainly got the point out loud and clear. Alright, maybe a bit too loudly because just as Ginny was fully ready to offer herself a smug smile of satisfaction for her motherly adopted trait, there was a loud bang of its own sounding at the head of the room as McGonagall jerked upright from her seat.

"That is 10 points from Gryffindor! This is not the Quidditch Pitch, Miss. Weasley!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tada! Chapter 11!<strong>_

_**I wanted to give a chance to show everyone kind of have their mixed feelings about the situation so I hope it isn't too choppy. **_

_**Draco really hasn't had the opportunity to have a freak out yet about everything because he's trying to 'be a man' but he will when it's appropriate, I promise. It's only natural.**_

_**More Narcissa and the Grangers to come! And yes, I realize I made up names for both of Hermione's parent's but they just don't exist. I've looked everywhere. I decided to name Mrs. Granger after**_ _**Hermione's middle name and chose Harold for Mr. Granger for no other reason than I thought sounded good and it started with an H.**_

_**Stay tuned for Snape's potion, Hermione's answer, and much more Hogwarts fun!**_

_**So what'd you guys think? Hope you enjoyed! XOXO**_


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